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D^50 

IS^ 

Hints on How to Teach 
Frye Geographies 


BY 

F. R. HATHAWAY 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 
0Tbe ^Itbenacttm |)refi;6 
1900 


3584 


TWO COPIES RECKIVEO, 

Library of Confrei% 
Offlco 0 f tkii 

JUN8.1900 

Refitftr of Ctpyrifltii 

a . /-2 3 2 ^ 

SbCONU COPY, 


62919 

Copyright, 1900 
- ' By- GINN & COMPANY 


ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 







PREFACE. 


K>* 

This booklet is not intended for a teachers^ manual, 
but rather as a means whereby teachers may be put 
in sympathy with the author of the Frye Geographies. 
The difficulty of such an undertaking is fully realized, 
for the writer has never had the pleasure of listening 
to Mr. Frye. His conclusions are therefore those 
which come to him as a result of carefully studying 
these text-books. It is quite possible that in trying 
to explain the underlying principles of Frye’s Geog- 
raphies there may be a little light thrown upon what 
some persons are pleased to call ‘‘the new Geography.” 

The following pages comprise in a condensed form 
the series of geography talks given by the writer to 
the teachers of Grand Rapids during the winter of 
1898-99, and are published at the request of several 
teachers who listened to those talks. 






HOW TO TEACH THE ERYE GEOGRAPHIES. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE FOUNDATION PRINCIPLE. 

When a perso.n puts forth a book it is safe to say 
that he has, or thinks he has, at least one idea which 
he wishes to lay before his readers. Unless he has 
such a message he should for the sake of humanity 
remain silent. In case the person is the author of a 
text-book, his new idea will, in all probability, be merely 
a new method which he wishes to introduce into the 
schools of the country. The subject-matter of the 
book may be as old as truth ; the only new feature 
may be its method of presentation. This second aim 
of an author is not to be deprecated ; in fact, in many 
lines of school work the chief question is,-,“ How to 
present a truth,” not ‘'What is the truth.?” The 
latter may have long since passed into the category of 
undisputed facts ; the former may be a point around 
which still centers many a battle of opinion. 

If we who are teachers will think back to the time 
when we were students in school, we shall remember 
that the geography taught us was merely the geography 
of location. Lessons were assigned us by the inch ; if 


I 


2 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies, 


the questions were short and numerous, the teacher 
gave us two inches and a half per day ; if they were 
longer, we took three inches and a half, and if the 
printer had by chance leaded the lines, the teacher 
lengthened our lessons proportionally, giving us possi- 
bly five or six inches. When the recitation time came 
these questions were asked us in definite order and we 
were expected to answer each in turn. Looking back 
at such a drill, we must confess that but two benefits 
were derived — we learned the location of many places 
on the surface of the earth and memory was trained. 
In the absence of other exercise, the remaining powers 
of the mind would have atrophied. 

Following this method of teaching geography there 
came another, which we may dub ‘‘the straight line 
method.” It propounded such questions as : “In trav- 
eling from New York to Chicago, along what parallel 
would you journey ; through what cities would you 
pass ; across what states would you move ? ” Possibly 
this method had its value, but as the genus homo never 
thus moves in straight lines, his offspring rebelled at 
being forever considered birds of passage, and crows 
at that. 

Method number two had its day, and teachers began 
to wonder if it were not possible to devise some plan 
to interest children in a subject which thus far had 
been the most uninteresting in the school curriculum. 
Some one hit upon the “journey method,” and teachers 
and children made zigzag tours over the entire face of 
the earth. This plan had at least the defect of being 
somewhat rambling. Interest had been aroused, but^ 


The Fotmdation Principle, 


0 

even the child’s imagination ultimately revolted against 
forever making believe and never actually performing. 

Finally an author, Tilden, impressed with the impor- 
tance of the business relations of the world, gave us a 
text-book whose underlying principle is : the com- 

mercial relations man bears to man.” This book, 
though marking a decided advance, left out of consid- 
eration the causal relations existing between physical 
forces and human occupations. Moreover, the book 
does not profess to be adapted to beginners. It is 
only a text for advanced grammar grade pupils. 

From time to time authors wrote so-called ‘‘Physical 
Geographies,” whose place was distinctly marked as 
belonging to the high-school department. These books 
leaned heavily toward geology, and served to give many 
boys and girls the only glimpse they ever received into 
that wonderful story which the hand of God has written 
in the structure of the earth. 

The time was ripe for a change — a clean-cut, well- 
marked and decisive transition. Mr. Alexis E. P"rye 
finally gave to the pupils of the grammar school his 
Primary and Complete Geographies, the underlying 
principle of which is that 

The vital geography ^ political geography and com- 
mercial geography of the world grow otit of and are 
dependent upon the physical geography of the world. 

True, this was not a new thought. Humboldt had 
long since shown the operation of physical forces in 
shaping the surface of the earth for the abode of man ; 
Darwin had demonstrated the effect of those forces 
upon the animal and vegetable life, and Buckle had 


4 How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

proved that those same forces exercised a determining 
factor upon the political and social relations of man- 
kind. Still these and a host of other authors had 
written books found simply upon library shelves and 
adapted to mature minds. Mr. Frye grasped this 
central thought and placed it before the children of 
America in a common school geography. 

Mr. Frye’s geographies are not only unique as gram- 
mar school texts in the underlying principle involved, 
but also in the manner in which that principle is 
taught. Teachers who use these books in the way 
they are intended to be used do not develop simply the 
power of memory. Those who study the books aright 
must compare concepts, and thereby train judgment ; 
must compare and combine propositions, and thereby 
develop the ability to reason. Knowing certain general 
laws, pupils learn to determine for themselves the lead- 
ing characteristics of any given locality. This method 
of work is the essential feature of the so-called ‘‘new 
geography.” 

Not understanding the underlying principle in Frye’s 
“ Geography,” or the method of attack, some teachers 
meet with little success in trying to use the books. 
At first they are very much interested, the book being 
so novel. When this interest wears off, such teachers 
complain that the books are apparently without that 
which Professor Hinsdale so aptly calls “necessary 
handles.” They then push aimlessly along, without 
grasping the principles, teaching their children by 
sheer memory many things about geography, but very 
little real geography. 


The Foundation Principle. 


5 


What foundation has Mr. Frye for maintaining that 
the vital geography, political geography and commercial 
geography of the world grow out of and are dependent 
upon the physical geography -of the world } 

Consider the question of boundary lines. There are 
two kinds — natural and artificial. History shows that 
the former are permanent, the latter temporary. France 
and Spain have been at war time and time again. 
Whenever they have settled their difficulties and estab- 
lished a treaty of peace, the Pyrenees mountains have 
stood as the line separating the two countries. Eng- 
land and France have repeatedly met in death struggle. 
With one single exception, in the treaties of peace 
which closed those struggles, the English channel 
remained the boundary line. This exception proved to 
be but a temporary adjustment of the difficulties, and 
slowly the artificial boundary was pushed northward 
until it coincided with the natural one. One other 
nation has often engaged France in war. No natural 
boundary separates this country, Germany, from France; 
consequently when the treaties of peace have been 
established, settling their difficulties, the boundary lines 
have been pushed back and forth, leaving continually 
an area of contention between the two countries. To 
the northeast of Prussia once lay a little country, 
Poland, separated from the adjoining countries by no 
natural boundary lines. The time came when those 
countries united for the partition of Poland, and the 
little kingdom was swept from the map of the earth. 
Not so with Switzerland, situated in the heart of 
Europe, but hemmed in by a natural boundary of 


6 


Hozv to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


mountains. It has stood intact for centuries. On 
every side nations have risen, flourished and decayed ; 
still Switzerland remains ; even though its form of 
government is a standing -menace to the monarchies 
of Europe. 

Not only are the pages of modern history replete 
with illustrations of the question involved, but the 
records of ancient nations give abundant illustration of 
the same truth. Scarcely a state in old Greece but 
had its boundaries marked in the configuration of the 
earth. For years the Alps served as the northern 
limit of the Roman empire, and even when the legions 
of Rome carried her eagles beyond that snow-capped 
range, the same mountains remained as before the 
barrier which separated the Roman citizens from the 
barbarians. As long as the Roman empire retained 
the Danube with its mountainous southern bank as its 
northeastern boundary it was safe, even though the 
wild hordes of Huns thronged the plains of Russia. 
But when her officers, false to their trust, granted 
those Huns the privilege of crossing that natural 
boundary, nothing could stay their onward march 
toward the Imperial City. 

The Roman soldiers pushed the native Britons back 
from the fertile plains of southeastern England until 
those Britons took lodgment within the mountain fast- 
nesses of Wales and Scotland. Then, in seeming 
imitation of Nature, they built a wall to serve as 
the northern boundary of Britain, hoping thereby to 
keep the Piets and Scots from invading the country. 
Similarly, in times long ago, the founders of the 


The Foimdation Principle, 7 

Chinese empire raised a wall which should serve to 
protect them from their enemies on the north. This 
same general truth finds abundant negative illustration 
in the history of the New World. Five European 
nations originally laid claim to North America. Why 
have these titles been extinguished } Not merely 
because the English race is the strongest, but rather 
because Nature had fashioned a continent in which 
there are few natural boundary lines. The two remain- 
ing artificial boundary lines are rapidly being obliter- 
ated by commercial treaties, all tending toward the 
amalgamation of the great American continent into 
one mighty nation. 

Not only have natural boundaries separated nations, 
but they have also served to keep separate and distinct 
the peoples who have lived upon opposite sides of those 
boundaries. The people of Transalpine and Cisalpine 
Gaul never coalesced. The Spaniards and French liv- 
ing on opposite slopes of the Pyrenees mountains have 
preserved their individuality. Though the Swiss live 
but a few miles from the Germans, they are distinct 
peoples. The French and English have entirely differ- 
ent traits. The tribes living on the southern slopes of 
the Caucasus mountains are so different from those 
living upon the northern slopes of the same mountains 
that they are easily distinguished as belonging to 
separate races. 

It is interesting to note the effect of modern civiliza- 
tion upon natural boundaries. Every railroad which 
winds its way over the mountain pass, or plunges 
through a dark tunnel ; every telegraph, line which 


8 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies, 


flashes its messages over the mountains or under the 
sea ; every steamship which carries its precious freight 
from country to country serves to break down natural 
boundaries and hasten the advent of The parliament 
of man, the federation of the world.” Modern engi- 
neering has given man that faith which enables him to 
say to the mountain, ‘‘Be thou removed,” and behold 
it is cast into the sea. 

From the time when Leonidas marshaled his Spar- 
tan band in the pass of Thermopylae to the time when 
the high tide of the southern confederacy broke upon 
the crest of Mission Ridge, the god of battles has 
inhabited some Olympian height and decided the for- 
tunes of war and the fate of nations along the natural ' 
boundaries which have separated countries. Of more 
importance to England than her entire army was the 
English channel when Napoleon saw nothing but that 
narrow strip of water between himself and world empire. 
No student of history can study the decisive battles of 
the world, or the campaigns of great captains, without 
being impressed with the important fact that the con- 
figuration of the earth has been a mighty factor in 
determining the results of such conflicts. 

What then would Frye have the student see in 
studying the boundaries of a country ? Not merely 
the location of those boundary lines, but whether they 
are natural or artificial ; permanent or temporary ; 
what their effect has been upon the nation's life ; how 
they have separated or failed to separate adjoining peo- 
ples ; how they have been a means of defense in time 
of war or a highway of commerce in time of peace. 


The Foundation Principle, 


9 


For years teachers have recognized in a general way 
the effect of climate upon animal and vegetable life. 
They have called attention to the facts that the most 
luxuriant vegetation grows in the tropics ; that decid- 
uous trees are found in the temperate regions ; that as 
one approaches the poles vegetation is more stunted, 
finally disappearing entirely ; that animals living in the 
cold regions are abundantly supplied with a warm cov- 
ering; that those found in the tropics are usually 
larger and more ferocious ; that the temperature of the 
torrid zone tends to enervate the people who live in 
that region ; that the temperature of the frigid zone 
necessitates such a struggle for existence, that people 
in those localities have no opportunity for intellectual 
advancement, and that only in the temperate regions 
does man reach his fullest development and establish 
the highest type of civilization. It remained, however, 
for Frye to write a geography series in which there 
should be placed before the school children the great 
thought that the animal and vegetable life native to 
any given region are determined largely by the physical 
geography of that locality ; and that the forms of such 
life which man can introduce in any given region are 
also determined by the physical geography of that 
locality. Moreover, this same general truth obtains 
not only with reference to the lower forms of life, but 
also to man himself, except in so far as he can adapt 
himself to a greater variety of environment. To illus- 
trate : The westerly winds blowing from the Pacific 

upon the western coast of the United States climb 
successively three ranges of mountains, each higher 


lO 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


than the preceding ; then blow down the eastern slope 
of the Rockies, deprived of their moisture. The plains 
lying at the foothills of these mountains have, conse- 
quently, little rainfall. The only form of vegetation 
which could thrive is the bunch-grass. The native 
animal life must, therefore, be such as could depend 
upon this bunch-grass for food. This was the home 
of the buffalo. These animals roamed over the plains 
in vast herds, cropping the grass short, then moving 
on to fresh pastures. When advancing civilization 
drove the buffalo from his native plains, man supplied 
his place with the only kind of animals which could 
thrive upon that vegetation which had nourished the 
buffalo. Great herds of cattle are now pastured upon 
these plains and are driven from place to place as 
necessity demands. 

Compare the valley of California with the so-called 
Great American desert. They lie in the same latitude, 
are but a few miles apart and have a like soil — the 
rock waste of adjacent mountains. Why is the one a 
garden spot, the other an arid waste } Why has one 
become the seat of a thriving population, the other 
remained the home of roving bands of Indians ? Sim- 
ply because one is well watered, while upon -the other 
region scarcely any rain falls. But why this difference 
in the amount of rain ? Surely it is not chance. Fixed 
laws must govern this phenomenon just as surely as 
they govern the movements of the planets. Knowing 
these laws and the relief forms of the two localities 
in question, the student is able to predicate the native 
life of those regions, even though he has never read a 




i 


tr 

t. 




The Foundation Principle. 1 1 

description of either. Advancing a step farther toward 
his final conclusion, he determines why Nature makes 
one locality fitted for a great state, while man must 
supplement by irrigation the lack of rainfall before. the 
other can be reclaimed for civilization. Apply the 
same general principles in comparing the valley of 
the Amazon with the Desert of Sahara. The physical 
geography of the northern parts of Africa and South 
America alone accounts for the dissimilarity.' The 
leading points of difference can be determined by the 
student from the study of the map without memorizing 
a word of the text. It is this power of reasoning out 
the necessary, native life of any given locality that 
Mr. Frye would develop in the pupils. 

The more advanced student can apply the principle 
in question to the determination of the seats of empire. 
It is a noticeable fact not only that every ancient civili- 
zation was located in a fertile region, but that some 
indigenous food grew luxuriantly in that locality. India 
had its rice, which yielded sixty fold ; Egypt its date, 
which yielded an hundred fold ; Mexico its maize and 
banana, which yielded abundantly ; and Peru its potatoes, 
which furnished ample food for the vast population. 
When civilization advanced and spread into the less 
fertile regions of the world, transportation became 
more and more a business enterprise. As the means 
of transportation improved, localities were obliged to 
depend less and less upon their own products. In 
these closing years of the nineteenth century steam 
and electricity have brought to one table the products 
of all regions of the earth. Man’s power to adapt 


12 


How to TeacJi the F^ye Geographies, 


himself to his environment, assisted in a great measure 
by the improved means of transportation, is splendidly 
illustrated by the settlements among the niter beds of 
Chili and the gold fields of Alaska. In the former 
locality rainfall is unknown and the heat intense ; m 
the latter snow is abundant and the cold intense. In 
both places vegetation is reduced to the minimum. 
Nature has done much to make these localities unin- 
habitable. Man has, however, taken up his abode in 
these inhospitable corners of the earth and depends for 
his sustenance upon a food supply brought thousands 
of miles from the fertile fields of the temperate regions. 
Such apparent exceptions to the general rule are but 
genuine illustrations of the working out of the real 
principle involved ; namely, the law of adaption. 

In general, commercial enterprise is manifested along 
the lines of agriculture, manufacturing, mining and 
commerce. What effect has the physical geography of 
the world upon these forms of human activity } 

The prime requisite for an agricultural region is a 
fertile soil. From what is such a soil made } How is 
it made } How has it been transported ? Every one 
of these questions belongs to the realm of physical 
geography. If the student is able to answer them, he 
is also able to determine the fertility of the soil in any 
given locality. The soil does not alone, however, make 
an agricultural region. Climate, including heat and 
moisture, must render assistance. Though as a matter 
of poetry, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and we 
may hear the sound thereof but cannot tell whence it 
cometh or whither it goeth ” : still, as a matter of 


The Foundation Principle, 13 

modern science there is little unknown about either the 
origin or the course of the winds. The child who has 
acquired even a rudimentary knowledge of air currents, 
and knows the simple laws governing evaporation and 
precipitation, may determine from the relief form of a 
continent the approximate rainfall in any given locality, 
and thereby decide for himself whether a certain region 
has the necessary conditions to make it a good agri- 
cultural district. Without this knowledge of nature’s 
laws he must depend entirely upon his memory in his 
efforts to locate the farming lands of the world. With 
this knowledge he sees that agricultural geography 
grows out of physical geography and is dependent 
thereon. 

When manufacturing had its origin, water was the 
chief power used in driving machinery. Even yet, 
owing to its cheapness, it is retained in service wher- 
ever possible. The older manufacturing districts are, 
therefore, situated upon rapid rivers, at points where 
there is sufficient fall to generate power. Only in the 
last years of the present century have steam and elec- 
tricity made it possible to establish manufacturing 
plants remote from running water. Acting upon the 
general principle involved, settlers going into a new 
country have seized upon water-power sites, and around 
such places there have quickly sprung up villages, 
towns and cities. 

Why do certain rivers creep lazily and wearily toward 
the sea, while others plunge headlong toward the ocean 
with the strength of a thousand horses in their tor- 
rents } This is a question for the student of physical 


14 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies, 


geography ; yet upon its answer depends in a large 
measure the ability of -a student to locate, irrespective 
of the words of the text, the manufacturing districts of 
a country. Thus taught, even a young philosopher can 
determine why New England had its millions of busy 
spindles, while upon the banks of the lower Mississippi 
not a single mill stood among the whitened fields of 
cotton. 

Has physical geography any message for the boy or 
girl who is trying to learn about the mineral regions 
of the world } At no other point in the whole range 
of the science is the answer more explicit. Geology, 
the foster parent of physical geography, teaches the 
student to read the history of this old world in the 
strata which compose the leaves in her book. In some 
places these strata lie unsoiled and smooth as they 
were originally placed, but in others they are crumpled 
and torn, exposing the ragged edges of many a deep- 
laid leaf to the inspection of man. At such places, 
minerals which were once deposited far below the sur- 
face are brought within the reach of the drill, the pick 
and the shovel. 

How was coal made What are the interrelations 
between coal, petroleum and natural gas } What agen- 
cies have been at work to transform soft coal into hard 
coal } Surely the pupil who can answer these questions 
will have little difficulty in locating the coal, oil and 
gas fields of the world. 

The average teacher who instructs her pupils as to 
the locality, size and leading enterprises of any given 
city takes it for granted that she has discharged her 




The Fowidation Prmciple, 


IS 


whole duty. It is quite possible, however, that there 
is a better way which should be adopted. These great 
centers of population usually have their origin in one 
of four causes ; they are educational centers, political 
centers, manufacturing centers or trade centers. Ann 
Arbor is an illustration of the first, Washington of the 
second, Lowell of the third and New Orleans of the 
fourth class. Occasionally a city, as Boston, has its 
origin in two or three of the above causes. Every 
great producing region has its distinct trade center 
conveniently situated for discharging the business 
pertaining to that region. Odessa, Rio de Janeiro, 
Minneapolis, are illustrations of this point. Occasion- 
ally the same city is so situated that it can readily 
serve as a trade center for two, three, or even four 
distinct producing regions. Chicago is an illustration 
of such a city. When thus favored a city must needs 
grow rapidly. 

There are two distinct kinds of transportation — 
land and water. Cities which owe their importance 
to the fact that they serve as freight depots for vast 
regions must be situated at points favorable to either 
one or both kinds of transportation. When a city is 
located so that it is a necessary center for both land 
and water transportation, is furthermore a great manu- 
facturing center, is still further a collecting and distrib- 
uting point for several great producing regions, and 
becomes finally a distinct educati6nal center, — that city 
must of necessity grow beyond all precedent. Chicago 
is the only illustration of such a metropolis. 

It is interesting to note that every important seaport 


1 6 How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

is located upon a good harbor. If the seaport in ques- 
tion is an old one, the water upon which it is situated 
is a good natural harbor. Venice illustrates this truth. 
If, however, the city is a modern one, the harbor may 
be artificial. Such is the harbor at Galveston. In 
many places man has supplemented the work of Nature 
so that a harbor which was originally slightly defective 
has been made ideal. Such is New York harbor. 

Do not the above remarks suggest a more perfect 
way for teachers to teach the geography of cities } 
The vital question is not, ‘‘Where is a city.^” but, 
“ Why is it in that place } ’’ Pupils taught by this 
latter method cannot but be impressed with the fact 
that the great centers of the world’s population have 
not been located by chance, but are determined by 
underlying principles whose operation may be known 
to all. 

Having by the above process determined the loca- 
tion of the leading cities of any given country, the next 
point in studying the commercial geography is to dis- 
cuss their means of communication. If it is true that 
the chief factors in determining the site of a city are 
physical forces, it is also true, even to a greater extent, 
that the lines of communication between those cities 
are similarly decided upon. When the Great Lakes 
were to be connected with the Hudson river by canal, 
the first point to be decided was the location of a 
natural water course between Buffalo and Albany. 
Where shall an oceanic canal be located for the pur- 
pose of connecting the waters of the Atlantic with 
the waters of the Pacific } Panama was once chosen 


The Fo7tndatio7i Principle. 


17 


because the isthmus was the narrowest and the moun- 
tains the lowest at this point. Millions of dollars were 
expended before it was found that the route was imprac- 
ticable. Nicaragua is now the favorite route, because 
the physical geography of that region makes the task 
of the engineer less difficult, even though the length 
of the canal is greater. When it became necessary to 
connect by rail Denver with San Francisco, the engi- 
neers sought carefully some mountain pass where for 
ages water has been steadily at work cutting a defile 
between the peaks, and making possible the construc- 
tion of a railroad. When a trunk line is to be laid 
between Chicago and New York, every inch of ground 
is carefully inspected, in order that all possible ad- 
vantage may be taken of water courses, ravines and 
valleys, thereby finally locating the route in such a 
place that the gradients shall be least in that direction 
in which the heaviest freight is drawn. Nor are we 
confined to modern history for illustrations of the prin- 
ciple under discussion. The great commercial routes 
of the old world were along lines of least resistance, 
whether they traversed the burning sands of Arabia or 
skirted the coasts of Europe. When the invention of 
the mariner’s compass removed hitherto insurmount- 
able obstacles and changed the lines of least resistance, 
Venice, Pisa and Genoa felt the uplift of a new com- 
mercial life. Still later, when the routes were again 
changed, these commercial centers of the middle ages 
became mere memories in the business world. 

Apply the foregoing general principles to the study 
of the settlement of our own country. From the time 


1 8 Hozv to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

when the first settlers pushed up the creeks and rivers 
which empty into the Atlantic, building their stock- 
ades and clearing the ground, to the time when their 
descendants, imbued with the same spirit, planted the 
most recent settlements upon our western coast, advanc- 
ing civilization has followed the natural roadways of 
the continent, and its star has in turn stood above each 
favored spot where kind Nature made it possible for 
man to make the desert blossom as the rose/’ The 
first settlers followed water courses or picked their 
trail around morasses, avoided steep hills and finally 
settled in those localities where the struggle for exist- 
ence would be least severe. A drive along the original 
turnpikes which cross the southern part of Michigan 
cannot but impress this truth upon even a casual ob- 
server. When Marcus Whitman, with his peck of seed 
wheat and old red wagon, picked his way through the 
mountain'fastnesses of the Rockies that he might set- 
tle in the fertile plains of the Oregon, and thereby 
take possession of the land which should ultimately 
become two mighty states, he illustrated the same gen- 
eral law. When the ‘‘ Forty-niners,” with their prairie 
schooners, wound slowly over the trackless prairies 
and then climbed wearily through the safest mountain 
gorges that they might win a fortune and establish a 
state, they, too, illustrated this same general law. 
Indeed, the student of history who would rightly study 
the gradual settlement of the United States must 
study it from the standpoint of physical geography. 

Enough has been said to show that Frye has many 
reasons for claiming that the vital geography, the polit- . 


The Foundation Principle. 


19 


ical geography and the commercial geography of the 
world grow out of, and are dependent upon, the phys- 
ical geography of the world. It remains for us in sub- 
sequent chapters to see how this truth is brought out 
and developed in the two books which this author has 
written. 


/ 


CHAPTER II. 

Frye’s J’rimary Geography. Pages i—i'J. 

\ 

SOME GEOGRAPHY MAXIMS. 

The casual reader will notice at once a marked dif- 
ference between the opening pages of this book and 
the corresponding pages of other primary geographies. 
It has been customary in times past for authors of 
geographies to begin with definitions of various land 
forms and water forms. Search as best you can through 
the first seventeen pages of Frye’s book, and you do 
not find a single definition. This much is apparent to 
all. The vital difference is not, however, so apparent. 
To discover this, one must look closer. 

Two distinct forms of reasoning have been given to 
the world — the deductive and the inductive. In ac- 
cordance with the former the reasoner proceeds from 
general truths to individual facts. In accordance with 
the latter the reasoner begins with individual facts and 
reaches general conclusions. The deductive system of 
reasoning was formulated .by Aristotle, and for 1500 
years constituted the only recognized system. Even 
yet it is used exclusively in pure, mathematics. While 
this system held universal sway science stood still, or 
if it advanced, it was almost sure to reach incorrect 
conclusions. Finally Bacon systematized the inductive 


20 


So7ne Geography Maxims. 


21 


form of reasoning and established the truth that ob- 
servation, the gathering of data and the examination 
of individual facts should precede the enunciation of a 
general truth. Final conclusions were thus made to 
depend upon actual facts ; whereas in times past the 
actual facts were distorted to harmonize with the gen- 
eral conclusions. The immediate effect of the Baco- 
nian or inductive system of reasoning upon all branches 
of science was marked. Chemistry, Physics, Botany, 
Medicine, Zoology, Physiology, Geology and Physical 
Geography were soon established upon a reasonable 
basis. Having been thus established, they offered a 
most fruitful field for investigation and research. The 
result was most astounding. These sciences forged 
ahead more within the next few years than they had 
in all the preceding centuries. 

Mr. Frye in these first pages of his Primary book 

has simply applied the inductive process of reasoning 

to a beginners’ geography. He aims to reason from . 

individual facts, gathered by observation, to general 
• « 

conclusions, and moves continually from the concrete 
to the abstract. In this way he establishes several in- 
teresting geographical principles. In thus establishing 
them he trains not merely the child’s memory, but his 
reasoning powers as well. 

There are two kinds of observation : observation of 
nature per se, and observation of pictures or models 
of nature. The former is always best when it can be 
rightly directed ; the latter is often necessary in the 
study of geography, because many forms of land and 
water are not to be found in the vicinity of the school. 


22 How to Teach the Frye Geographies, 

I 

Frye recognizes both kinds of observation. He sup- 
plements the first by an abundance of well-selected 
pictures, illustrating the phenomena under discussion. 
No teacher can use this book successfully unless she 
realizes the importance of both kinds of observation. 
She must frequently take her class to observe gravel 
banks, slopes, divides, valleys, basins, deltas, water 
courses and vegetation to be found within walking 
distance of her school ; and also train her children to 
study illustrations of other phenomena not located 
thus conveniently. In doing this work she must exer- 
cise the greatest care that her pupils are taught how 
to observe and what to observe. The importance of 
these lessons is not confined to the geography. The 
power of observing carefully (such power must always 
precede the habit of observing carefully) is a necessary 
foundation for all science training. More than this, 
there is no other power which the teacher can cultivate 
in her pupils which enters more vitally into their ulti- 
mate success as men and women. He who observes 
accurately and compares carefully has a power which 
goes far toward making his success assured. 

Let us now observe how Mr. Frye applies the induc- 
tive system of reasoning to geography. In his first 
lesson he makes what the lawyer would term *‘an 
opening, statement,” in which he announces that which 
he expects to show in the course of the book. Passing 
on to Lesson 2, he directs the observation of teacher 
and pupils along certain lines. In Lesson 3 the 
observation work is continued with this difference — 
in the second lesson that which is observed is nature 


Some Geogmp/iy ]\[axims. 


23 


itself ; in the third it is pictures of nature. In the 
fourth lesson the pupils are led to think about some 
natural scenes which they beheld in times past, but 
which are not now before their eyes, either in actual 
form or as pictures. Then before the close of the 
lesson the first general geographical principle is enun- 
ciated ; viz., that slopes decide the duxctio^i of idvers^ 
and by rivers zue are able to find out the direction of 
slopes. This is a simple, yet an important principle. 
Many pupils have, however, advanced to the age of 
maturity without recognizing this truth or using it in 
the study of maps. Having reached the general con- 
clusion, it will be well to permit pupils to apply the 
same to the examination of such maps as those found 
on pages 9, 32, 42 and 46. In fact they should make 
constant use of this and succeeding general principles 
as soon as those principles are developed. By thus 
using these principles they will learn to recognize their 
importance, and will realize that they constitute the 
alphabet of geography. It will be well, at this point, 
to make one general statement which pertains to the 
working out not merely of the first geographical prin- 
ciple, but also to those which follow. Teachers should 
not confine themselves to the exact questions asked 
in the book. The observation work, both as it per- 
tains to nature and to pictures, should be broader and 
more extensive than is there specified. The teacher 
must recognize the general truth which she wishes 
to bring out, and direct the observation accordingly. 
Moreover, the immediate vicinity of the school may 
give opportunity for much more extended observation 


24 Hozv to Teach the Frye Geographies, 

of nature than even Mr. Frye suggests. You will also 
be able to illustrate many points by pictures selected 
from other text-books and from general collections. 

With the fifth lesson the author takes up a different 
thought. He here directs pupil and teacher to make 
certain experiments. What is an experiment } Simply 
a question asked of Nature. To learn the answer one 
must observe closely. At the beginning of the sixth 
lesson the author directs certain lines of observation 
work, and by the time the last paragraphs are reached 
the pupil is ready to draw his second conclusion ; viz., 
Coarser soil is foimd near the heads of s'treaius^ while 
the finest soil is in the vicinity of^ the outlet. Let him 
apply this principle to the discussion of the upper pic- 
ture on page 2, and the two pictures on page 5. He 
will be able to see that this same principle is applicable 
to the largest river basins in the world. 

In Lesson 7 the author directs another line of experi- 
mentation. In Lesson 8 the pupil is led to observe 
the effect of water upon vegetation, and is taught the 
third general principle ; viz.. Water is necessary to all 
forms of vegetable life. 

In Lesson 9 the author directs some new experi- 
ments, with an entirely different object in view. He 
follows these in Lesson 10 with observation work from 
nature which is within the reach of every pupil. This 
is continued in the early part of Lesson ii. Finally, 
before the close of that lesson, he announces the fourth 
general principle ; viz.. Deltas are formed fro 7 n soil 
zvorn off from high land and deposited where slow 
streams empty hito still water. This is one of the most 


Some Geography Alaxivis, 


25 


important geographical principles which the student 
will meet. Notice how the conclusion has been estab- 
lished. The author begins with the observation of 
seemingly trivial forces at work in the vicinity of any 
schoolhouse, and step by step leads up to the establish- 
ment of a general principle which accounts for the for- 
mation of some of the most extensive and fertile tracts 
in the world. Be sure to let the pupil make use of this 
principle. Teach him to recognize a delta wherever he 
sees it, both in his own observation of nature and in 
the examination of pictures and maps. By contrast 
let him observe also what rivers will not form deltas. 
Even now he may compare the outlets of the Columbia 
and the Mississippi, the Ganges and the St. Lawrence, 
the Indus and the Colorado, the Rhine and the Danube, 
the Congo and the Nile. 

It will be well for the pupil now to combine princi- 
ples two, three and four, and determine for himself 
the soil in the deltas and also whether that soil is cal- 
culated to support vegetation. The pupil has not thus 
far had anything relative to the effect of temperature 
upon vegetation, and consequently the teacher will be 
obliged to direct his reasoning so that he may not form 
erroneous conclusions. 

With Lesson 12 the author begins another line of 
experiments by which he seeks to place before the 
pupil the different conditions under which evaporation 
and precipitation take place. In Lesson 13 he leads 
the child to see these same forces at work in nature 
itself. The conditions of the various forms of precipi- 
tation are set forth. All these are drawn from infor- 


26 


Hoiv to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


mation already possessed by the pupil. In Lesson 14 
the child is taught to observe at least two sources of 
streams, and in Lesson 15 the fifth general principle is 
enunciated ; viz., By means of evaporation and precipi- 
tation the 7 'ivers are supplied with water. 

In the development of the next general principle it 
is suggested that Lesson 17 follow immediately after 
Lesson 19. Lesson 16 is an observation lesson. So 
are Lessons 18 and 19. Their examination, taken in 
the order suggested, will lead the pupil from local to 
universal facts and will include both the examination 
of nature itself and pictorial representations of nature. 
In Lesson 17 the pupil establishes his sixth general 
conclusion ; namely. By means of divides river basins 
and systems are for^ned. Review the first principle in 
connection with the sixth. Make practical application 
of this general principle in the study of maps on pages 
9^ 32, 36, 42, 46, 50 and 91. Then return to the map 
on page 8 and train the pupil to observe that between 
adjacent branches of the Mississippi system there must 
be a local divide. Every such branch, therefore, having 
a divide on each side of it, marks a distinct valley. 
Pupils should be taught to distinguish carefully be- 
tween local slopes and general slopes ; the main stream 
and its chief branches revealing the latter, while the 
smaller branches determine the former. A study of 
the Tennessee and the Cumberland rivers will be inter- 
esting in this connection. It will be well to ask the 
children to locate the lowest ground in any great river 
system, and to point out and describe the general slopes 
which approach that lowest ground ; then to see how 


Some Geography Maxhns. 


27 


these general slopes are in turn cut by other valleys, 
in which the slopes are, in all probability, at right 
angles to the main slope ; how these second valleys 
may be in turn cut by still smaller valleys, and these 
again traversed by other valleys, until finally the 
branches have been traced back to the original brooks 
which flow between the local hills. Remember that 
all these can be read from the map on page 8, if the 
other maps have been studied as suggested. The 
teacher must, however, make use of the wonderful 
imagination which every child possesses. The white 
page before him, covered with a few wiggly black lines, 
will then have a meaning which otherwise it cannot 
possess. Hills and valleys will come forth, slopes and 
divides be a reality, and the whole surface of any map 
become a book as legible and entertaining as a fairy 
tale. 

With Lesson 20 the author begins another series of 
experiments. He follows this in Lessons 21 and 22 
with a series of observations. These experiments and 
observations have a definite purpose. They serve to 
lead the pupil out from the individual to the general. 
The experiments and observations cover both nature 
itself and pictures. Following these directions the 
pupil is able to ascertain the seventh geographical 
principle, which is : Wind^ frost a 7 id rim^iing water are 
the chief agencies in pidverizhig rock and wearing dozvn 
monntams. Having determined this principle, the pupil 
should make practical application of it in the discussion 
of local geographical features. He should realize that 
these forces are at work transforming the surface of the 


28 


How to Teach the Frye Geogi^aphies. 


ground in his immediate neighborhood. Such observa- 
tion will assist the pupil in appreciating the fact that 

% 

these general principles which he has discovered are 
principles which are now operating in actual nature and 
not merely something which the author has seen fit to 
place in the text-book. 

The general principle which the author seeks to 
develop in Lessons 23 and 24 is closely connected with 
the seventh principle. The means of reaching the final 
conclusion are the same as have been heretofore noticed ; 
namely, by observation and experiment, to proceed from 
the examination of individual facts to the general con- 
clusion. In Lessons 20, 21 and 22 the pupil was led 
to discover the great agencies which Nature uses in 
wearing down the mountains. In Lessons 23 and 24 
he notes the eighth general principle, namely : Rii 7 inmg 
water is the chief agency in transportmg material from 
the 7 no 2 intain regions to the lowlands, a 7 id most of the 
lowlands of the zvorld have bee^i thus made. Pupils 
should now combine principles seven and eight in the 
discussion of such regions as the Colorado canon, Niag- 
ara gorge, the Nile valley, the Mississippi valley and 
the Ganges valley. While it is true that pupils do not 
yet know the geographical location of these regions, 
neither have they had any instruction relative to the 
names of the different continents and divisions ; it is 
equally true that if the teacher will turn to the maps 
the pupils will easily see how the seventh and eighth 
principles enable one to understand the necessary geo- 
graphical conditions of these places. 

Thus far the general principles that have been devel- 


Some Geography Maxims. 


29 


oped are those which largely govern the building up of 
the inside of a continent. Very little has been given 
about shaping its margin. The only place where any- 
thing has been said directly about shore lines is in con- 
nection* with the formation of deltas at mouths of rivers. 
In Lessons 25 and 26, by skillful questioning and by 
carefully directed observation, the author establishes 
the ninth geographical principle : The chief agency in 
shaphig shore forms is the oceafi. He shows how the 
waves, surf and currents act differently upon different 
kinds of soil, fashioning in one place a bold bluff, in 
another a shelving beach ; how a harbor is cut here and 
an unbroken shore line is left there. 

The nine principles re-stated in order of their devel- 
opment are : — 

1. Slopes decide the direction of rivers, and by rivers 
we are able to find out the direction of slopes. 

2. Coarser soil is found near the heads of streams, 
while the finest soil is in the vicinity of the outlet. 

3. Water is necessary to all forms of vegetable life. 

4. Deltas are formed from soil worn off from high 
land and deposited where slow streams empty into still 
water. 

5. By means of evaporation and precipitation the 
rivers are supplied with water. 

6. By means of divides river basins and systems are 
formed. 

7. Wind, frost and running water are the chief agen- 
cies in pulverizing rock and wearing down mountains. 

8. Running water is the chief agency in transporting 
material from the mountain regions to the lowlands. 


30 How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

and most of the lowlands of the world have been thus 
made. 

9. The chief agency in shaping shore forms is the 
ocean. 

Every pupil should be thoroughly familiar with the 
above principles. He can no more understand the re- 
maining pages of geography if he is in ignorance of 
them, than he can understand advanced mathematics 
if he is unacquainted with the fundamental operations 
in arithmetic. It is not sufficient that a pupil should 
memorize these principles (a parrot could do that) ; it 
is necessary that he should have the power of applying 
these principles to the discussion of the geography of 
any given locality which he may be studying. In all 
subsequent work teachers should recognize these prin- 
ciples and give the pupils abundant opportunity to make 
practical application of them in the daily work of the 
class-room. Pupils must be trained to see that these 
principles do not operate individually, but in unison. 
Often, in trying to understand the features of some 
locality, several or all of the principles must be used. 
The practice of thus applying the principles will assist 
in training the pupil’s judgment and reason. This 
work will place the study of geography upon an en- 
tirely different basis than that heretofore occupied, and 
will entitle it to a much higher place in the school 
curriculum. 


CHAPTER III. 


Fryers Frunary Geography. Pages 24-gy. 

THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD. 

This portion of the book is distinct and character- 
istic. At the time the book was written no other 
author had put forth anything like it. As Mr. Frye 
makes so much depend upon the physical geography 
of The world, it is safe to say that the work of these 
pages constitutes a most important undertaking in the 
study of geography. The teacher must here, if any- 
where, enter into the spirit of the book. She must 
grasp the central thought of the author and work in 
harmony therewith. What is this central thought } 
Simply this : The unity of the physical features of the 
earth. To establish this, Mr. Frye first discusses the 
earth as a unit, showing that there is a world ridge 
traversing the globe and having its uniform divides and 
slopes. The pupil is led to notice the similarity among 
the inside slopes and the similarity among the outside 
slopes of this ridge. The relation of this ridge to the 
shallow and deep oceans is also brought out. In the dis- 
cussion of this part of the book the teacher must supple- 
ment the text with oral instruction in certain particulars ; 
the child must be taught the names of the grand con- 
tinents even before those names appear in the book. 

31 


32 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


It is not the intention of the author to dwell much, 
if any, upon details. This view of the earth is like 
that which a person upon the moon might obtain 
through a powerful telescope. To him the earth 
would be a unit, and to the child, in the study of the 
world ridge, it is to be a unit traversed by one great 
elevation. 

Before taking up the study of the continents, as 
given on page 31, it will be well for the teacher to 
bring out a few of the salient features in the chapter 
on Heat, Wind and Rain, begun on page 75. A pupil 
at this point should know the approximate location of 
the belts of heat. He should know that heated air 
rises and that cool air rushes in to take its place ; that 
this, coupled with the rotary motion of the earth, 
causes the Trade Winds, which blow constantly from 
the east over a region of the earth extending each side 
of the equator nearly one third the distance to the 
poles. He should know that water is evaporated from 
wet surfaces ; that the amount of evaporation is in- 
creased by increasing the temperature and by setting 
the air in motion ; that warm air will carry more mois- 
ture than cold air ; that the effect of sufficiently cooling 
the air is to cause precipitation; that the chief forms 
of precipitation are fog, rain and snow ; that the inter- 
position of a range of mountains in the path of a warm, 
wet wind invariably causes heavy rainfall on the wind- 
ward side of those mountains, while the wind which 
blows down from the summit upon the leeward side of 
the mountains is a drying wind. 

In attempting to establish the above facts with refer- 


The Physical Geography of the World. 3 3 

ence to heat, wind and rain, it will be well to avoid 
scientific technicalities. Make the lesson as simple as 
possible, but be sure that the pupil knows these facts. 
Then, having learned them, be sure that he makes 
daily use of these truths in his study of the physical 
geography of the different continents. Knowing these 
few rudimentary principles, he will grow to determine, 
in a large measure without the help of teacher or text- 
book, the rainfall and consequent river system of each 
continent. 

It is well to observe the order in which Frye takes 
up the different continents in his study of the physical 
geography of the world. This order is different in the 
Primary and Complete Geographies. Moreover, it is 
different from the order in which he takes them up 
when he comes to discuss the political and commer- 
cial geography of the world. There must be some 
reason for the arrangement he adopts. The continents, 
in the Primary Geography,’' are studied in the order 
of their increasing difficulty. The simplest and most 
typical continent is South America. It therefore 
comes first. Then the others are discussed in the 
following order : North America, Asia, Europe, Africa 
and Australia. Note further that these continents are 
arranged in three natural pairs ; the two Americas 
constituting the first. In both, the continental out- 
lines are evidently triangular, with the apexes pointing 
toward the south. The main and secondary axes of 
the continents oceupy similar positions and extend in 
corresponding directions, while the interior of each 
continent is a great fertile plain. In the second pair 


34 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


of continents, Asia and Europe, the main axes extend 
in an easterly and westerly direction, and the secondary 
axis is in each case north of the primary axis and par- 
allel with it. From each of these two continents three 
great plateaus project to the south in the form of 
peninsulas ; while the lowlands of both continents 
slope gradually toward the Arctic ocean. The third 
pair of continents, Africa and Australia, are also sim- 
ilar — not so much in their outline as in the fact that 
the great mountain ranges of these continents follow 
quite closely the coast line, leaving as the interior of 
each an elevated, arid plateau. 

Frye discusses the continents in a uniform manner, 
which may be roughly outlined as follows : 

1. Skeleton. ’ 

2. Flesh. 

3. Circulating System. 

4. Shore Forms. 

It is not meant that a teacher can place this outline 
upon the board when she comes to the study of any 
given continent, and from it secure good work on the 
part of her pupils. The outline, however, not only 
covers the topics developed by Frye, but also the order 
in which they are discussed. For our convenience it 
may be necessary to examine this outline more in 
detail. 

By the skeleton of a continent is meant the relief 
forms of that continent, the primary and secondary 
axes and the arrangement of the plateaus. Upon this 
skeleton the flesh of the continent, that is, the lowland, 
is placed. (Make use of the seventh and eighth geo- 


The Physical Geography of the World. 3 5 

graphical principles.) Having thus determined the 
highlands and lowlands, we are next to discuss the cir- 
culating system ; but before the rivers can be decided 
we must know the rainfall of a continent. In order to 
know this we must take up the position of the heat 
belts and the prevailing winds. (Revert to fifth geo- 
graphical principle.) Having found out where the 
precipitation takes place and the form in which it 
comes, the pupil will determine the river systems of a 
continent. (At this place make use of the first and 
sixth geographical principles.) Having mastered these 
three general topics, skeleton, flesh and circulating 
system, the class can advance to the discussion of 
shore forms, and see how they have been shaped by 
the ocean in a manner either to promote or retard 
commerce. (Make application of the fourth and eighth 
principles.) This is the order in which Mr. Frye dis- 
cusses each continent in detail. 

When a new continent is taken up, the teacher 
should compare that continent with the preceding one. 
This is a most important point. Such comparisons 
train judgment and give the pupil data from which he 
may reason. These comparisons should bring out not 
only the points of resemblance but the points of differ- 
ence. By such means the central thought of this por- 
tion of the book will be made clear. The pupil will 
see for himself the unity which pervades the physical 
geography of the earth, but will see in that unity a 
variety which is instructive and interesting. 

In our lessons in reading and arithmetic we are very 
careful to give what are designated as development 


36 How to Teach the Frye Geog^^aphies. 

iessons, by which we pave the way for that which is to 
come from the study of the text. From our broader 
experience we put the pupil in a position so that his 
mind will be in a receptive attitude ; thus enabling 
him to take up the work of the study period in a way 
that will give him better returns for his labor. The 
development lesson is even more necessary in geog- 
raphy than in either reading or arithmetic. When a 
new continent is taken up, turn to the physical map as 
given in the book, or, what is better, a physical wall 
map, hung before the pupils. Give a development 
lesson upon the physical geography of the continent, 
in which the pupils will be led to see that they can 
read from the map nearly every important geographical 
fact bearing upon the study. In truth, as the student 
grows older, he will perceive, if rightly taught, that 
the only things which he cannot read from the map 
itself are the names which man has used to designate 
the different regions. There is no law governing 
these ; they are purely arbitrary. 


I 


/ 


CHAPTER IV. 


Frye's Primary Geography. Pages pp-86. 

/ 

THE VITAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD. 

It is quite possible that the title given to this chap- 
ter may not be the best that could have been selected, 
and therefore it may be necessary to explain, in a word, 
what is meant by the term ‘‘vital geography.” As 
here used, it means simply the geography of the animal 
and vegetable world. For the purposes of this discus- 
sion man will be classed among the other animals. In 
thus classifying man we shall not undertake to treat of 
his industrial and political progress, but shall consider 
him strictly from an ethnological standpoint. 

Possibly the first educational body to lay stress upon 
vital geography was that branch of the National Edu- 
cational Association which gave us the Report of the 
Committee of Ten. They emphasized what is com- 
monly called the “Humanistic side” of geography. 
Before that report was issued Mr. Frye had, however, 
written his text-books in which the broad principle was 
laid down, if not in so many words, at least by implica- 
tion, that, in a large measure, the vital geography of 
the world grows out of, and is dependent upon, the 
physical geography of the world. 

Though treating such a general principle, Mr. Frye 

37 


38 


Hozu to Teach the Frye Geographies, 


realized that he was writing for children, and that 
abstract discussions would be utterly inadequate. He 
therefore sought to establish his general conclusion by 
such simple reasoning that even a child can grasp it. 

This author introduces the children of America to 
the children in the different parts of the earth. His 
plan is much the same as that followed by Jane 
Andrews in ‘‘Seven Little Sisters” and “Each and 
All.” The publishers have, however, made this text 
differ from the Andrews texts in several important par- 
ticulars, the most prominent of which is the great num- 
ber of excellent illustrations found in the geography. 

The chapter upon the people can be considered a 
series of reading lessons, and should be supplemented 
by corresponding lessons from such books as Butter- 
worth’s “Journeys,” “ Rollo’s Tours” and Jane An- 
drews’s stories. The wide-awake teacher will bring to 
the class many other books which will render real as- 
sistance in this work. If, however, the lesson stops 
simply with interesting the class with stories of the 
little people in other parts of the world, the real and 
vital question will be lost. Every pupil should see that 
the physical surroundings of Tibbu, Chuglu, Hans, Wil- 
helm, the Arab children, the Indian children, the Lapp 
children, the Malay children, the Japanese children and 
the Chinese children are the chief factors in determining 
the kind of a home they live in, the food they eat, the 
clothing they wear, the games they play, the progress 
they make and the occupations their parents pursue. 
The child who grasps this great truth will have the 
foundation upon which to build a substantial super- 


The Vital Geography of the World. 39 

structure in support of the proposition that physical 
environment determines in a large measure the posi- 
tion any nation takes in the history of the world. 

Following the chapter upon people is a chapter upon 
Heat, Wind and Rain. It has been suggested that 
a few of the principles involved in this latter chapter 
should be brought out and established before discussing 
the physical geography of a continent. This seemed 
necessary in order that pupils might correctly under- 
stand the drainage of the various grand divisions. The 
work of this chapter must now be examined a second 
time, but for a different purpose. Rightly studied a 
second time, this portion of the book will give the nec- 
essary data from which to examine the flora and fauna 
of the world. One of the strongest features in Mr. 
Frye’s treatment of Heat, Wind and Rain ” is the 
careful way in which he avoids scientific technicalities. 
A few great truths are brought out, but they are 
established without either laborious reasoning or the 
phraseology of science. The teacher should profit by 
the example so plainly set by the author. Children 
who have reached this stage in their work are unable 
to enter more deeply into the subject. Rudimentary 
facts concerning heat, wind and rain are, however, nec- 
essary for the study of the animal and vegetable life 
of the world. The way in which the earth is heated, 
the general causes for different degrees of temperature 
at different portions of the earth, the various heat 
belts, moisture as a necessary condition for fertile soil, 
the interrelation of wind and rain and the causes of 
seasons and their changes are the principles which 


t 


40 How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

should be established at this point in the pupil’s prog- 
ress. If these principles are understood, the class 
may * safely advance to the discussion of plant and 
animal life. 

In Lesson 109 Mr. Frye gives the key to this por- 
tion of the work. Note the two following sentences : 
Every plant grows best where it has the kind of soil 
and the amount of water and heat that it needs.” ‘‘All 
over the earth plants search out the soil, heat and 
moisture that best suit their needs.” Here is the 
statement of the doctrine of adaptation or, as it has 
been previously put, the fact that the vegetable life of 
the world grows out of, and is dependent upon, the 
physical geography of the world. These two state- 
ments, if given to the pupils without illustrations, will 
fail to convey the real meaning. Undoubtedly, Lesson 
109 is sufficient for a recitation. Still it can be read 
in three minutes. The teacher must exemplify the 
truth of the two statements made. To be sure, the 
author gives several examples. These are, however, 
but hints ; the teacher must have in mind many other 
illustrations, not merely of a local character, but such 
as will lead the child from the contemplation of local 
vegetation to the vegetation of the great heat belts. 
Let him see that the principle involved is one and 
the same, whether we consider the pussy willow grow- 
ing on the margin of a local stream or the stunted 
growth within the Arctic circle. 

In showing how plants search out the soil, heat and 
moisture that best suit their needs, the teacher has an 
opportunity to draw abundantly from the works of such 


The Vital Geography of the World. 4 1 

teachers as Agassiz and Darwin. Even at this point 
children can get a glimpse of that quiet but constant 
and intense struggle throughout the vegetable world 
which for ages past, and during the unending present, 
gives us ‘‘the survival of the fittest.'' He who, with- 
out ostentation, without pedantry, but with simplicity 
and with candor, can teach at this time such an impor- 
tant truth, has many of the elements of a great teacher. 

Following Lesson 109 are four lessons in which 
Mr. Frye gives us the names of the plants growing in 
each of the heat belts. It would be quite possible in 
this connection to require the child to memorize the 
complete classified list of all plants mentioned. Such a 
system would, however, fail utterly of the real intent of 
the author. Notice that under the discussion of each 
distinct belt there is a statement of the physical condi- 
tions of that belt with reference to heat and moisture. 
For example, in Lesson no we find this assertion: 
“This belt (the Hot Belt) has a hot or a warm season 
all the year, with plenty of rain. The hot belt is very 
rich in plant life.” Then follows the enumeration of a 
number of plants which grow in the hot belt. Group 
^these all together and you have the general fact that 
the important vegetable life of this belt is that which 
produces fruit, which, without being cooked, serves 
[adequately as food. 

In Lesson in we are informed that the physical 
conditions of the warm belts are similar to those in 
the hot belt, with the exception that in the former 
[there are long, hot summers and short, cool winters. 
We would naturally expect the vegetable life to be 


42 Hoiv to Teach the Fiyc Geographies. 

similar to that of the hot belt. Though this similarity 
exists, there is, however, a difference. -The fruits are 
not those which are calculated to sustain life, but to 
add to its pleasure. We here meet for the first time 
that cereal, rice, which will grow nearest the equator. 
Moreover, as there are short, cool winters in the 
warm belt. Nature provides a plant which will furnish 
material for clothing. This is the home of the cotton. 

On each side of the warm belts are cool belts. Mr. 
Frye tells us that the hot and cool seasons are of 
about equal length. Note the characteristic vegeta- 
tion. This is the home of the grass, the cereals and 
the forest. Proceeding in our journey toward the 
poles, we come next to the final heat belts, in which the 
summers are short and the winters long. The mini- 
mum growing season necessitates the most stunted 
forms of vegetation. Food plants are unknown. 

In the chapter on animals the same general princi- 
ples are developed as in the chapter on plants. The 
animal life depends upon its environment just as truly 
as does the vegetable life. The dependence is not, 
however, so absolute, owing to the fact that animals 
have the power of locomotion and can move from place 
to place. This fact makes it impossible to classify 
them in regard to heat belts as accurately as we do 
vegetable life. This is especially true with reference 
to birds, which can migrate from one region to another. . 
Mr. Frye recognizes these truths in that, while he 
devotes a separate lesson to the plants of each heat 
belt, he groups the animals of the heat belts in one 
section. Though animals have the power of locomo- 


I 

I 

The Vital Geography of the World. 43 

I 

jtion, there are many barriers which they cannot cross, 
i Where such barriers intervene the animal life on the 

I different sides of the barrier is distinct. If animals 

( 

iare left free to migrate, they will ultimately settle in 
ithat region which is best suited for their development. 
iHere they will remain until the physical conditions 
i change or advancing civilization drives them to new 
I fields. 

Though in the vegetable life there is ever a struggle 
to determine ^'The survival of the fittest,’' this struggle 
becomes a mere skirmish when compared with the con- 
test going on in the animal world to determine what 
forms of animal life shall survive. To the plants food 
is brought by the air, soil and moisture. If it is not 
thus tendered them, they die and a new form of vege- 
tation springs up. Not so among the animals. Mr. 
Frye aptly says: ‘‘All around us there is a struggle 
for food.” The animals must struggle for their own 
food. Kindly Nature does not offer it to them from an 
open hand. In the effort to obtain the necessaries of 
life they fight continuously and ultimately die. All 
along the scale of animal life, from the lowest to the 
highest, the great struggle is for something to eat. 
Nature helps each by furnishing organs especially 
adapted as weapons in this warfare. 

The above facts show why Mr. Frye should give the 
lessons on “ The Teeth, Claws and Homes of Ani- 
mals.” Note the pictures on page 83. The elephant’s 
trunk is calculated to help him get his proper food. 
The giraffe has a long neck, which enables him to 
reach the branches of trees. The woodpecker has a 


44 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


stiff, hard bill with which he picks holes into the 
trunks of trees. The cluck has a shovel-shaped bill, 
just fitted for digging in the mud. The ant-eater has 
a nose and tongue suited to his manner of getting food. 
The eagle’s beak is well calculated to tear to pieces 
his food, while that of the finch is naturally shaped for 
cracking seeds. The humming bird has a bill with 
which he can draw nectar from the deepest flower cup. 
The hog can root in the ground. The tiger’s paws are 
obviously adapted for springing, catching and scratch- 
ing. The duck’s feet are just the kind to enable him 
to walk best in the mud, while those of the camel have 
the soft, yielding pads which make it possible for that 
animal to travel over the sands of the desert. The 
long, bare legs of the heron are such that that bird can 
wade in deep water in search of food. The neck and 
bill of this same bird are of the right shape and length 
to work in harmony with the legs. The ostrich’s feet 
and legs are well adapted to running, while the eagle’s 
talons are so strong and firm that they can carry food 
which the beak will afterward tear to pieces. The 
clean, hard hoofs of the horse are the acme of perfec- 
tion, their present form having been reached through 
ages of development. 

Keeping in mind the above facts, we shall readily see 
the basis upon which Mr. Frye broadly classifies the 
animal life of the various regions of the world. In the 
hot' belt the dominant animal life is carnivorous, with 
all its inherited ferocity. In the temperate regions 
the dominant animal life is herbivorous and is found in 
greatest abundance where pasture lands are best. In 


The Vital Geography of the World. 


45 


the polar regions, where vegetation is reduced to a 
minimum, the animal life is again carnivorous, but is 
largely aquatic or semi-aquatic. 

A final thought is necessary with reference to the rela- 
tion of animal and vegetable life to human food. While 
animal life is most abundant in the tropics, the flesh of 
animals living in the hot belt is not good food for 
man, even if he felt disposed to eat it. In the region 
of the equator man’s food consists almost entirely of 
fruits and vegetables. As we move toward the polar 
regions cereals take the place of some of the fruits, 
and as we go still farther men depend more upon meat 
and less upon vegetables for sustenance. Finally, as 
we approach the poles, the flesh of animals is used 
entirely. It will thus be seen that the maximum 
amount of food supply is given us by the vegetable 
life in the tropics, and the minimum amount in the 
polar regions ; while, on the other hand, the animal life 
gives us the maximum amount in the polar regions and 
the minimum amount in the tropics. In the temperate 
regions these two sources of food are about evenly 
balanced and man is best nourished. 


CHAPTER V. 


Frye’’s Primary Geography. J^ages 86-ij6. 

THE POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE 

WORLD. 

The next distinct portion of the book is that which 
begins on page 86 and continues throughout the remain- 
der of the text. This portion treats of the political and 
commercial geography of the world. In teaching these 
subjects Mr. Frye would have it constantly kept in mind 
that the political geography and commercial geography 
of the world grow out of, and are dependent upon, the 
physical geography of the world. Notice how he intro- 
duces on page 91 a relief map of the United States, in 
order that it may be compared with the political map 
found on the opposite page, and the product maps found 
on the following pages. PAery one of these maps should 
be measured by the relief map. Much benefit will be 
obtained by superimposing each in turn upon the relief 
map. This is another recurrence of the foundation 
principle of the book. Some teachers have thought 
that these branches of geography should be brought 
out immediately after the discussion of the physical 
geography of each continent. Such, however, is riot 
Mr. Frye’s plan. He keeps constantly in mind that 

the earth must be studied as a unit. First, he discusses 

46 


Political and Conwicrcial Geography. 47 

the world ridge ; second, the physical geography of the 
earth ; third, the vital geography of the earth. Now he 
takes up the business and commercial geography. In 
each of these subdivisions the pupil is led to see that 
subdivision in its relations, not merely to one continent, 
howev^er large that continent may be, but to the entire 
world. It is, therefore, fitting that the author should 
discuss the relation man bears to the earth as a unit. 
The only place where the book deviates from this gen- 
eral underlying principle is from page 129 to page 136, 
where, in an appendix written by another author, a new 
plan of treatment is given for the geography of certain 
groups of states in order to give more details. It will, 
however, be noticed that even this appendix is to be 
studied only after the book has in reality been com- 
pleted. This appendix is, moreover, partially justified 
by the fact that many pupils drop out of school before 
studying the larger book, wherein they will find the 
more explicit geography of that portion of the United 
States in which they reside. If all children were sure 
to study the ‘^Complete Geography,’"' this appendix, 
treating of local geography, might safely be omitted. 

In that portion of the book now under consideration 
the child should get his principal instruction in the 
geography of location. Here is where some attention 
must be given to the old-fashioned drill. Pupils should 
not be allowed to pass through the study of geography 
without learning definitely the location of the most 
prominent places on the surface of the earth. Such a 
knowledge is of inestimable benefit in all subsequent 
reading. In the examination of the maps given by 


48 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies, 


Mr. Frye the teacher will be struck with the fact that 
the author gives names of but a few places. Almost 
without exception those found in the Primary Geog- 
raphy ” should be learned by pupils*. If they know the 
location of these places, their geography of location 
will be sufficiently accurate for pupils of this grade. 

It is to be observed that in the discussion of the 
political and commercial geography of the world Mr. 
P'rye takes up the study of the continents in an entirely 
different order from that followed when discussing the 
physical geography. Why this change ? Before, as 

was noticed, the order is the order of increasing com- 

• 

plexity. Now the order is the order of diminishing 
business and political importance as measured by the 
standard of a citizen of the United States. Notice the 
truth of this statement in the following arrangement of 
grand divisions : United States, North America, South 
America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Some 
may fancy that Europe should precede South America, 
but possibly, in placing the continents in the order 
selected, Mr. Erye has grasped more accurately than 
these critics the real present and future business and 
political relations of the United States. 

The way in which Mr. Erye treats the subject of 
'‘The People of the United States” is decidedly differ- 
ent from the way in which that topic is usually treated 
by geographers. A few writers of history have, how- 
ever, approached the theme from practically the same 
standpoint. The average fifth grade pupil, in studying 
the distribution of people in the United States, discov- 
ers no laws governing that distribution, and the average 


Political and Commercial Geography. 49 

i 

grammar grade pupil, in studying the gradual settlement 
land development of the United States, remains equally 
in ignorance of the underlying principles. Possibly 
writers have thought that these principles are either 
too unimportant or else too difficult. Such, however, 
is not the opinion of Mr. Frye. He sees in the dis- 
tribution of population and in the gradual settlement of 
our country the same law which underlies the entire 
subject of geography. In his mind the physical geog- 
raphy of a country is the great determining force which 
decides all such questions. Adequately understanding 
this, the pupil is able to know why cities are located in 
some places and not in others, why population is more 
dense in some states than in others, and why settlers 
followed certain well-defined routes in their invasion of 
the New West. Preceding the establishment of canals 
and railroads, settlers followed the water courses through 
the forests of the Middle States ; and these same water 
courses served as highways along which they shipped 
the products of their farms. Washington grasped this 
thought over a hundred years ago, when, in the absence 
of a natural water course connecting the head waters 
of the Ohio with the head waters of the Chesapeake, 
he sought to locate a canal between those points. He 
recognized this as the only way of keeping the great 
Mississippi valley from either founding an independent 
government or becoming a province of France or Spain. 
Similarly, he himself inspected a canal route between 
the Great Lakes and the Hudson river, hoping thereby 
to establish a means of communication between the val- 
ley of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic seaboard, and 


50 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


ji 
il 

ti 

I: 
j: 

thus unite the great Northwest to the Atlantic States | 
by the ties of commercial interest. To his mind the I 
physical geography of these regions was so important 
that it became a determining factor in maintaining the 
integrity of that country whose independence he had 
secured. His dreams were ultimately realized, even 
more fully than he' expected. 

Mr. Frye’s method of presenting the business inter- 
ests of the United States to a fifth grade child is unique. 
Notice how he takes up each great product in turn, 
giving a map illustrating the locality especially adapted 
for this product. He gives the physical conditions 
necessary for producing each great staple. As a means 
of assisting the pupil in determining these physical con- 
ditions it will be well to require the child, as previously 
suggested, to superimpose each of these maps upon the 
physical map of the United States. He will thus learn 
why the cotton belt is in one region, the corn belt in 
another and the wheat belt in a third. Take next in 
connection with each of these maps the paragraph found 
on page lOO, which reads as follows : “ Every producing 
region needs one or more shipping points. These be- 
come centers of trade. They should be within easy 
reach of all parts of the region, and should connect by 
water, rail or other route with the markets of the world.” 
Require the pupil to determine the centers of trade for 
each region studied. He will, by this process, learn the 
reason for the location of cities. It is not enough, how- 
ever, to know where cotton is raised, how and where it 
is collected. The pupil must know where the cotton is 
manufactured into cloth. This will establish the loca- 


Political and Commercial Gcog7'apliy. 5 i 

tion not only of New Orleans and Galveston but of Bos- 
ton, Lowell and Manchester as well. Having discov- 
ered the collecting and manufacturing centers, the next 
question is, What are the routes of trade between these 
points.^” Nor is the inquiry yet complete. The next 
natural question that arises is, “What are the markets 
for the manufactured cotton When the child has 
determined this question and the routes of trade between 
the manufacturing centers and these markets, he has 
completed the geography of cotton. In a similar way 
let him discuss wool, wheat, forests, beef, cattle, coal 
and iron. True, in some of these the manufacturing 
centers are not so concentrated as in the case of cotton, 
but they are nevertheless quite distinctly marked. The 
cities where cattle and hogs are changed to beef and 
pork can be definitely located. The interrelation of 
coal and iron will determine the great smelting cities 
of the world. It will thus be seen that whenever a 
producing area is discussed its physical conditions must 
be first determined, then the area over which these con- 
ditions prevail, then the collecting and distributing de- 
pots for the area, then the manufacturing centers, then 
the routes of trade between the collecting depots and 
the manufacturing centers, then the markets for the 
finished product, then the routes of trade between the 
manufacturing centers and the markets, and, finally, 
the interrelation between certain great departments of 
business enterprise. 

It is suggested that in this connection it will be 
interesting and instructive to allow the pupil to super- 
impose one product map upon another, in order that 


52 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


he may determine for himself what regions of the 
country depend for their prosperity upon simply one 
line of business, and what regions have diversified occu- 
pations. Our fifth grade boy will then be able to 
decide what localities are least liable to periods of 
business depression. 

The class which has followed the study of the geog- 
raphy of the United States according to the plans 
suggested will have learned the reason for every great 
city in the country and the principal land and water 
routes connecting these cities. This plan, faithfully 

carried out, will determine quite largely the answer to 

• 

that perplexing question which often arises in the mind 
of the teacher, What cities shall I require my class to 
memorize ? ” Possibly the only additional cities which 
the pupils should learn are those which owe their 
importance to political or educational interests. Every 
fifth grade child should know the capital of every state 
and the seats of our great universities. 

Having mastered somewhat in detail the political 
and commercial geography of the United States, the 
pupil advances to the discussion of these same branches 
in each of the grand divisions of the world. The 
underlying principle which we found in the discussion 
of the geography of the United States must be retained 
in all subsequent similar investigations. True, we 
shall not be able to go so much into detail, but still the 
pupil must understand that the political and commer- 
cial geography of every continent are the direct out- 
growth of the physical geography of that continent. 
When he studies South America, he must observe that 


Political and Commercial Geography . 53 

the physical conditions of • Brazil are such as make 
that country a great coffee country. He must learn 
that Rio de Janeiro is the collecting and distributing 
depot for this product. He must determine the great 
markets for coffee, and then see by what means coffee 
is carried from Rio de Janeiro to those markets. Simi- 
larly, he must discuss the wheat and cattle industries 
of the valley of the Rio de la Plata, the sheep industry 
of Australia, the diamond fields of South Africa, the 
wheat fields of Russia and India, the cotton of India, 
the rice of China and the coal and iron of England. 

Throughout all this discussion he must observe the 
natural routes of travel between trade centers, must 
see how Nature has fashioned certain harbors so that 
there may be established on their shores termini for 
routes of trade, must know where man has improved 
these natural routes of trade ; for example, in the con- 
struction of the Erie, Suez and Manchester canals, and, 
finally, how he has established great trunk lines of 
international railways along the lines of least resistance. 

In the discussion of the political geography of the 
world, he must learn the forms of government and 
capitals of the different countries. When he studies 
boundaries of different countries he should follow along 
lines suggested in the first chapter, and determine the 
effects of certain natural boundaries upon the life of 
the people. With fifth grade children this work must 
be given largely by the teacher. Yet the children will 
be able to grasp enough of it to help them to compre- 
hend in a large measure why the chief boundaries of 
the different countries are in certain positions. 


CHAPTER VI. 


Frye's Coinplete Geography, Pages i-2y, 

THE NATURAL FORCES THAT HAVE SHAPED AND ARE 
SHAPING THE EARTH FOR THE HOME OF MAN. 

In taking up the work of F' rye’s second book we may 
fairly suppose that the author will follow the same 
general lines of thought carried forward in the first 
book. As a matter of fact, a real unity pervades both 
texts. This unity is manifested not merely in the 
arrangement of material, but in the foundation principle. 
Mr. P'rye has written a second book which is adapted 
for more mature minds than is the first. A few addi- 
tional principles are brought out, but in the main he 
has given us broader and more definite views of these 
principles which he formerly stated in the simplest 
manner. Possibly the purport of the second book can 
be illustrated by the statement that the author uses a 
larger magnifying glass through which to look at the 
world. We must remember that a greater magnifying 
power means a smaller field of view. This point is 
nicely illustrated by the different way in which Mr. 
Frye treats the geography of the United States. He 
now breaks that country into sections, each section in 
turn passing under more careful scrutiny of the more 
mature pupil. 


54 


Natural Forces that Have Shaped the Earth. 5 5 


\ 


While in the second book, as in the first, Mr. Frye 
seeks to show that the other forms of geography grow 
out of, and are dependent upon, physical geography, 
he nevertheless recognizes that the pupils for whom he 
is writing are more mature. In the first book there are 
very few statements of bare facts. That book is neither 
didactic nor expository. In the second book this plan 
is changed. The author, in column after column of 
the first twenty-six pages, gives the reader definite, 
clean-cut statements, pregnant with truth. His style 
is concise and explicit. It is taken for granted that 
the pupil is now mature enough to grasp these truths, 
tersely stated, and that if he has any difficulty it is the 
teacher’s business to lead him to the comprehension of 
these truths by processes similar to those used by the 
author in his first book. Formerly the pupil was led 
to discover new truths by means of investigation. Now 
the truth is presented to him in definite form, and he 
must reflect upon it, using it as a basis for more general 
conclusions. This is the essential point of difference 
between the Primary Geography ” and the Complete 
Geography.” In other respects the books are similar. 

When Mr. Frye introduced the primary student to 
geography he sought to establish, by observation and 
inductive reasoning, several great geographic principles. 
These principles he used in all his subsequent treatment 
of the subject, nor does he now discard them. He, 
however, recognizes that the human mind is ever 
attempting to reach more general conclusions, that the 
work of the greatest philosopher is to reduce human 
knowledge to the most general propositions possible. 


56 


Hozv to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


Of this universal principle he now wishes to make 
practical application. No longer is it sufficient that 
the child shall see that there are nine great geographic 
principles. These must now be grouped, in order that ^ 
the pupil shall appreciate in their most general state- 
ment the great forces which are at work transforming 
the surface of the earth so that it may be used as the 
abode of man. Reduced thus, the pupil will see that 
there are but three forces at work : the physical forces, 
the chemical forces and the life forces. Possibly if 
the author were to write a third book, adapted to even 
more mature minds, he would group the last two forces 
in one comprehensive principle, and thus specify that ■ 
in the final solution of this question the student of 
geography need consider but two great forces in active | 
operation upon the earth’s surface. 

In Chapter I we called attention to the fact that the \ 
principal lines of human activity are agriculture, man- j 
ufacturing, mining and transportation ; and we also 
showed, in a general way, how physical geography con- 
tributes to an adequate understanding of these forms 
of industry. In attempting to discuss how the earth 
has been, and is being, prepared for the home of man, 
we must remember the chief characteristics of man’s 
abode ; what are the essentials of a good agricultural 
district ; what makes a good manufacturing locality ; 
under what conditions can mining be profitably fol- 
lowed ; how, where and why is transportation carried 
on ; where do people live and why do they live in those 
places ? Keeping in mind these questions, we shall be 
able to see more clearly how the physical, chemical and 


Natural Forces that Have Shaped the Earth. 57 

life forces are aiding in the solution of these problems 
which arise in the field of humanistic geography. 

One other thought must preface the accurate analysis 
of this portion of the text. Many of us were taught 
years ago that the earth came from the hand of its 
Maker complete in every detail, and just as it is at the 
present time. When our minds were disabused of this 
idea the awakening was both rude and painful. We 
found it difficult to adjust our faith to the idea that the 
world was never completed, is not now completed and 
never will be completed. Still, seience left us no alter- 
native, and we finally were forced to the belief that the 
world is being made in the unending present ; that the 
forces which are now at work are the forces which have 
been at work since the foundations of the earth were 
laid ; that these forces are as busy now as they ever 
have been, and that the changes are now as rapid as 
were the average changes in geologic times. The child 
who is taught by the more modern method gets a truer 
appreciation of the element of time in the construction 
of the earth. Ravines, gorges, glacial marks, coral 
reefs, subsidence of continents and the formation of 
plains all impress upon the youthful mind that in the 
workshop of Nature '‘A thousand years are but as yes- 
terday and as a watch in the night when it is past.” 
Mr. Frye deserves some credit for the way in which 
he has brought this thought to the school children of 
America. Thereby, in the study of the only science 
which is taught all school children, he lays the founda- 
tion for a more correct knowledge of real scientific 
truth. 


58 


Hozv to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


The physical forces which Mr. Frye shows as busily 
at work in fashioning the surface of the earth arc water, 
heat and wind. Sometimes these act separately, but 
more often in unison. The chemical forces are seen 
.at work in the decomposition of rock, in the formation 
of caverns, in the production of carbonic acid gas and 
in the purification of the atmosphere. The life forces 
operate in covering banks with vegetation, in producing 
vegetable mold, in building coral reefs and in forming 
great limestone strata. The intimate relation existing 
between the chemical and life forces is apparent in that 
nearly every change brought about by life or death is 
a chemical change. The pupil who finishes the first 
twenty-seven pages of this book, with his scientific 
knowledge thus clarified and systematized, will have 
laid a good foundation for subsequent study, either in 
the laboratory or the home. Such a knowledge will 
help to banish superstition and enthrone reason. 

Some teachers have a tendency to instruct their 
pupils relative to detached and separate items of truth, 
each of itself valuable, but taken as a whole entirely 
disconnected. This tendency should be overcome. 
Here, within a few pages, Mr. Frye sets an example. 
The location of the oceans, the causes and effects 
of rainfall, the formation of springs and streams, the 
transporting power of rivers, the work of snow and 
ice, the formation of river systems by means of basins 
and divides, the erosive power of rivers, the building of 
flood plains and deltas, the shaping of coastal plains 
and lake plains, the fashioning of shore forms, the 
movements of waves, the flow of ocean currents and 


Natural Forces that Have Shaped the Earth. 59 

the throbbing of tides are all set forth as the means 
whereby Nature is using water in shaping the earth for 
the home of man. Moreover, when thus viewed, the 
intimate relation existing between these various forms 
is abundantly illustrated. None of them act alone, all 
work together. 

Similarly, the author unifies the work of heat. The 
simplicity with which he discusses the way in which the 
earth is heated and lighted leaves little to be desired. 
The teacher who will follow the text closely, supple- 
menting it with the use of a globe, will escape many 
perplexing questions and still give her pupils those 
portions of this much discussed question which they 
are able to understand, and upon which scientists are 
agreed. Here the author lays the foundation for 
mathematical geography. Enough is given to show 
how the location of the tropics and Arctic circle 
are determined by the inclination of the earth's axis 
and the movements of the earth about the sun. The 
pupil can thus see for himself that these lines are not 
arbitrarily determined. The reasons why heat belts 
are not constant and isotherms are not parallel to the 
equator are also shown to depend upon the physical 
structure of the earth. To assist the pupil in gaining 
a clearer conception of some of the fundamental prin- 
ciples of mathematical geography, the following experi- 
ments are suggested : — 

Drive in a south window sill a long vertical nail from 
which the head has been cut. Let it project above the 
sill about three inches. Require the class to measure 
the shadow cast by this nail at noon each month of the 


6o How to Teach the Frye Geographies, 

school year, being sure to obtain the accurate length of 
the shadow at the time of the spring and autumn equi- 
noxes and the winter and summer solstices. Preserve 
a record of all observations. Let the class draw con- 
clusions with reference to the height of the sun at the 
different seasons of the year. Next erect in a south 
window a north and south vertical plain, such as a . 
sheet of stiff paper. Place some opaque object, as the 
point of a lead pencil, near the south edge of this plain ; 
note and mark the direction of the shadow cast by this 
point on the plain at noon. Transfer this line, showing 
the direction of the shadow, to a blackboard on the 
west side of the room, being careful to preserve the 
exact inclination. Leave these lines on the blackboard 
throughout the season. Represent their direction at 
the time of the solstices and equinoxes by different col- 
ored crayons. Make the observations every time you 
measure the length of the sun’s shadow. Draw conclu- 
sions with reference to the direction of the sun’s rays 
at the different seasons of the year. Compare these 
conclusions with those reached by measuring the length 
of the shadow. Let pupils determine for themselves 
the relations existing between the height of the sun 
and the seasons of the year. 

Quite properly the author groups in very close rela- 
tion Winds and Rainfall. Correctly to understand this 
twofold problem it is necessary to know something of 
the laws governing the mixture of warm and cold air, 
the general direction of prevalent winds and the con- 
ditions governing evaporation and precipitation. These 
are topics which are usually taught in the department 


Natural Forces that Have Shaped the Ea^'th. 6i 

of physics. If a teacher’s knowledge on these points 
is not correct and accurate, she should carefully review 
the subjects as discussed in a first-class text-book on 
physics before trying to teach this portion of the 
geography. Granted, however, that her knowledge is 
sufficient, Mr. Frye’s presentation of these points is 
clear enough to enable pupils to get correct ideas not 
only of facts, but of general laws. Th^s part of the 
book demands that the teacher’s knowledge of the sub- 
ject must be more, extensive than that covered by the 
words of the text. Probably no other phase of phys- 
ical geography will be more often referred to or more 
frequently used than that chapter which treats of winds 
and rainfall. Knowing the winds, rainfall and relief 
form of any continent, the pupil will more and more 
appreciate the fact that he can predicate, without study- 
ing the exact text, the forms of animal and vegetable 
life, not only native to any given locality, but which 
may be introduced into that locality. He will see that 
possibly these agencies have the most to do in fashion- 
ing the surface of the earth so that it is adapted to 
agriculture, manufacturing and transportation. 


u 


Frye's Co77iplete Geography, Pages 2y-gg. 


CHAPTER VII. 




THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE CONTINENTS. , ] 

In this portion of the book the principles governing 
the order of presentation of continents and allotment 
of space are different from those which obtained in the 
corresponding portion of the smaller geography. The 
grand divisions are no longer discussed in the order of 
their increasing complexity, but in the probable order 
of their diminishing importance to the future Ameri- 
can citizen. Mr. P"rye has undoubtedly been led to 
depart from the scientific arrangement of his subject- 
matter because so many pupils are compelled to leave 
school before having an opportunity to finish the 
“Complete Geography.” Such pupils should be famil- 
iar with the geography of North America, South 
America and Europe, even though they have no oppor- 
tunity to amplify their general knowledge of the other 
three continents. 

Of the seventy-two pages devoted to the physical 
features of the continents a little more than one third 
are devoted to North America; and of the twenty-five 
pages thus used, the greater number are given to the 
United States. Mr. Frye himself states in a footnote 
on page 30 why this apportionment of space is rnade : 

62 




The Physical Geography of the Contmenis, 63 

— ‘‘ Not only because we ought to know the geography 
of our own country, but also because a full knowledge 
of the surface and resources of our land affords the 
best key to its history.’* The full import of this state- 
ment should be grasped by the teacher of geography 
and the teacher of history. When it is fully compre- 
hended the real basis for the correlation of these 
branches will be understood. 

The arrangement of the text in the ‘‘ Complete 
Geography” presupposes that the pupil has completed 
the Primary Geography.” In the study of any given 
portion of the larger book, the teacher should, therefore, 
make use of the pupil’s general geographical knowledge 
of the entire world ; whereas, in using the smaller book, 
the teacher is always confronted with the fact that 
there is ever before the pupil an unexplored region, 
which is either a land of terror or a land of promise, 
according to the way it is approached. The attitude of 
the child’s mind is different in the study of the two 
books. While studying the smaller, it is comparable 
to that of an explorer who traverses an unknown 
region ; while studying the larger, it is comparable to 
that of the prospective settler who examines a locality 
to determine the most promising site for a settlement. 
With the “Primary Geography” each pupil is a LaSalle ; 
with the “Complete Geography” he is a Daniel Boone. 
This difference is recognized by Mr. Frye. Note the 
way he treats the physical geography of North America 
in the two books. Every general topic discussed in the 
large book is touched upon in the smaller. There is a 
difference, however. In the primary book two columns 


64 to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

are devoted to the Rocky mountains ; in the complete 
text these mountains with their subdivisions are given 
eighteen larger columns. The detail is filled in. An 
important principle governs tTie selection of such detail. 
The average teacher introduces simply the description 
of scenery. Railway folders, photographs, personal 
narrative are all used to Interest the class and make 
more vivid the pupils’ mental pictures. Such descrip- 
tions are entertaining and possibly have their place. 
Still this is not teaching geography. Observe Mr. 
Frye’s first sentence in his ‘‘Complete Geography”: — 
“This book describes the earth as our home.” In our 
last chapter we showed that in the first twenty-six 
pages of his “Complete Geography” the author treats 
of those forces which have shaped and are shaping the 
earth for the home of man. In the next seventy-two 
pages he describes that home. To the student of geog- 
raphy the Willamette valley is of vastly more impor- 
tance than the Yellowstone park, simply because it is 
the home of a thriving people rather than the stopping 
place of an occasional tourist. The entertaining descrip- 
tions of snow-capped mountains, with their precipitous 
sides and deep gorges, are not the material with which 
the geography lesson or text should be filled. This is 
the property of the lecturer, the essayist and the kodak 
fiend. What relation do the Tnountains in question 
bear to mining } How do they affect the winds and 
rainfall of neighboring lowlands } How do they serve 
as a barrier to commerce, a defense to a nation, a 
boundary for a race } These are the questions which 
should engage the attention of teacher and pupil. Such 


The Physical Geography of the Continents . 65 

is the detail with which, in his Complete Geography,” 
Mr. Frye fills in the large outline drawn in his ‘‘Primary 
Geography.” 

The pupil who is engaged with this portion of the 
book is supposed to have attained a maturity both 
as to study and age which enables him to undertake 
the solution of certain geographical problems. Such 
mental effort will not only test his real knowledge of 
principles, but will help develop his reasoning powers. 
It is therefore suggested that some time be given to 
such questions as the following: — 

Suppose the Coast Range mountains were higher 
than the Sierra Nevada, what effect would this have 
upon the rainfall of central California } 

Suppose the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada moun- 
tains to remain at their present altitudes, but the former 
to extend unbroken along the western coast, how would 
the interior of California be changed } 

If the Sierra Nevada mountains were lowered to the 
height of the Coast Range, how would it affect the 
rainfall of California.^ of Nevada.^ 

What effect would increasing the velocity of the 
lower Mississippi have upon the character of the soil 
deposited along its banks and at its mouth } 

Compare central North America with central Eurasia. 
Suppose a body of water equal to the Great Lakes were 
placed in the north central part of Eurasia, how would it 
affect the extremes of heat and cold in that continent } 
How does cutting the forests around the head waters 
of a river affect the river } Study in this connection 
the Hudson and Rhone. 


66 How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

Account for the rainfall in the valley of the Po. 

If the velocity of the Nile could be increased, how 
would it affect the delta at the mouth of that river ? 

Suppose the trade winds should stop blowing, how 
would that affect the vegetation of South America ? 

Suppose water contracted when freezing, how would 
that affect the rivers and lakes in the temperate zones ? 

If water contracted when freezing, would rocks 
weather more or less rapidly then they do now ? 

Suppose, owing to the elevation of the ocean bottom, 
the Gulf stream were deflected so that it flowed straight 
cast from Pdorida to Europe, what would be some of 
the probable results ? 

Suppose the axis of the earth were inclined i 5°, 30°, 
or 45°, what would be the width of the various zones 
in each case ? 

It is not intended that the above serve as a complete 
list of such problems nor that their solution shall con- 
stitute a regular class exercise. Whenever pupils are 
called upon to discuss such questions they should be 
required to give the course of reasoning by which they 
arrive at conclusions. If, starting from supposed data, 
a boy can reason logically and arrive at the proper 
conclusion, it is fair to suppose that he has such a 
knowledge of principles that his conclusions drawn 
from the examination of actual data will be sound. 
This plan of work tests his comprehension of under- 
lying geographical principles. 

The relief maps found in this portion of the book 
should be studied and constantly consulted by both 
teacher and pupil. They constitute as distinct and im- 


The Physical Geography of the Continents, 67 

portant a feature as do the words of the text. With- 
out them pupils would often fail utterly to understand 
the true relation physical geography bears to other 
branches of the science. By omitting all names and 
boundary lines from these maps the author enables the 
student to fix his entire attention upon relief forms. 
Every line and every piece of shading contribute to 
the one end in view. As location of places is neces- 
sary in order to use the relief maps intelligently when 
studying the text or discussing the lesson, the author 
has hit upon the plan of printing key maps on the oppo- 
site pages. Many teachers use these maps, the relief 
and the key, simply in connection with the lesson called 
“Map Studies” which accompanies each relief map. 
Such use of these maps is wrong. True, they are to 
be used with the map studies, but they are also to be 
used with nearly every lesson in the book. They con- 
stitute a great object lesson which should continually 

« 

confront both pupil and teacher, showing ever that 
political geography, commercial geography and vital 
geography grow out of, and are dependent upon, phys- 
ical geography. As well drop Hamlet from Shakes- 
peare’s great drama as omit the relief maps from 
Frye’s geographies. 

Permit a few illustrations : — 

On page 81 we find the statement : — “The Scandi- 
navian peninsula is in the path of the moist westerly 
winds. The steep western slopes therefore receive 
much heavier rainfall than the lowland on the east.” 
Turn to the relief map on page 74 and reinforce this 
statement. Next direct the pupils’ attention to the 


68 How to Teach the Frye Gcogi'aphies. 

relief form of France and the Netherlands. Discuss 
the prevalent winds and permit pupils to prophesy the 
rainfall. Now turn to Lesson 84 and see if the prog- 
nostications are correct. 

Read on page 6$ concerning the Indus and Brahma- 
putra rivers. Note how they rush through narrow 
deep valleys, cutting for themselves pathways in the 
solid rock and breaking down that which impedes their 
progress. Turn to the relief maps on page 62 and see 
how such a condition is represented. Observe next 
the Hoang-Ho river and permit the pupils to draw 
their own conclusions concerning the rapidity of this 
stream and the nature of the valley through which it 
flows. Let them next read' a paragraph or two on page 

69 and see if their reasoning is correct. 

Taught thus, pupils will soon learn that a relief map 
is an open page from which can be read as easily as 
from print much of the geography of a continent. 
The ever recurring question should be, “What does 
the relief map say ? '' The ability to read a map is one 
of the greatest advantages to be derived from’ the study 
of geography. 

We learn much by comparison. It is upon the rela- 
tion that one item of knowledge bears to other items 
that its chief, if not its total, value depends. It is not 
only true that “ No man liveth unto himself alone,’’ 
but it is equally true that no knowledge standeth by 
itself alone. Later we shall apply this principle to the 
study of commercial geography ; now we shall use it 
with reference to physical geography. 

On studying any given continent be sure to compare 


The Physical Geography of the Continents, 69 

it with continents previously studied. These compari- 
sons should bring out both points of resemblance and 
points of contrast. When all continents have been 
considered in this manner take up in succession such 
features as highlands, lowlands, river systems, shore 
forms. Make each feature a general topic and study 
it with reference to all continents. This plan will give 
the pupils a series of cross-references concerning geo- 
graphical data. 

Let us illustrate. Suppose the continents have been 
studied in turn and each compared with the others. 
How shall the physical geography of the world be 
reviewed } To go back over the book in the order it 
was first studied will awaken little interest and make 
nugatory the study period of pupils. Boys and girls 
will think they know it all and will not attempt to pre- 
pare their lessons. If, however, the teacher assigns 
such a general topic as The Lowlands of the World, 
then subdivides it so as to bring out their location 
with reference to continents, zones and prevalent winds, 
their rainfalls, their drainage, their climate and their 
ability or inability to support a population, she will 
arouse intense interest and provoke enthusiastic study. 
For the benefit of the slower pupils it will be well to 
give definite references to the pages where these topics 
are treated. The average pupil will, however, do most 
of this studying by simply comparing the relief maps, — 
‘‘A consummation most devoutly to be wished.” A final 
review of the continents conducted along these lines 
rearranges the fragmentary knowledge a pupil has 
previously gained, so that he no longer sees each con- 


70 llow to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

tinent by itself, but rather the entire earth as a unit. 
Thus, starting in the Primary Geography with the 
thought that the earth is a unit, he returns at the con- 
clusion of his study of physical geography in the larger , 
book to the same idea, — the earth is a unit. Analy- 
sis, then synthesis, has been the order. The circle is 
complete. The unity to which the pupil returns is 
different from the unity from which he started. His 
new unity is made up of infinite variety, yet so harmon- 
ized that there is no confusion. Thus taught, the 
child need take but one more step to come face to face 
with the vitalizing thought that there is a Something 
which plans and controls world forces so that they work 
together in complete accord. 

Such we believe to be the general thought pervading 
this portion of Frye’s ‘‘Complete Geography.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 


Fryers Complete Geography. Pages gg-iig, 

VITAL GEOGRAPHY. 

The general principles governing the corresponding 
portion of the smaller book, as described in Chapter 
IV, will be found to obtain in the work now before us. 
As the pupils are two years older than when they began 
the study of vital geography, the author brings to their 
consideration some new truths which were beyond their 
comprehension at the earlier period. 

Teachers and pupils, when studying the races of men, 
plants and animals, should keep constantly in mind the 
fact that P" rye’s ‘‘ Complete Geography” ‘‘describes the 
earth as our home.” 

One of the most important relations that physical 
geography bears to racial geography is set forth by 
Mr. Frye in the statement : — “ The home of each 
race is bounded on nearly all sides by oceans, deserts 
or lofty highlands.” The author follows this generali- 
zation with several illustrations, then emphasizes it in 
the study of each separate race, and finally clinches the 
thought in his Review of the Races, as found in Les- 
son 104. Much, however, is left for the teacher. She 
must bring pupils to see the reason which underlies this 
condition. When they comprehend that the primitive 

71 


72 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


races could not cross oceans, deserts or lofty highlands, 
they will have mastered a truth that will be of much 
subsequent use to them. Starting from this fundamen- 
tal proposition, lead the pupils to see that as the races 
became more civilized they worked their way through 
mountain passes into new valleys, from oasis to oasis 
across barren deserts into new fertile regions, along 
dangerous coasts to new islands. Tell of the Teutonic 
invasion of central Europe, the exploits of Hengist and 
Ilorsa, the journeyings of Lief Ericson. Boys and girls 
will quickly see that the means of communication were 
still so difficult that settlements planted under such 
circumstances could have very little communication 
with the original race. In time there would thus 
spring up the various subdivisions of the five great 
races, each with its own peculiarities, but each in turn 
having certain characteristics which plainly designate 
the parent race to which it belongs. Do not stop here. 
Lead the pupil to take one more step. Having taken 
it, he will see that as civilization advanced man discov- 
ered means of communication, no matter how difficult 
the barriers which separated tribes, nations or races. 
After inventing the compass he was no longer obliged to 
skirt the coast, but could boldly venture across seas and 
oceans. Commerce as well as discovery came with this 
invention. Military roads were the precursors of tunnels, 
bridges and railways. The tendency of to-day is to break 
down barriers and to bring the different races into closer 
touch. The civilizing influence of commerce, 'made pos- 
sible by modern invention, is a principle with which even 
grammar grade pupils should be familiar. 


Vita/ Gcograp/iy, 


73 


While considering the effects of mountains, oceans 
and deserts upon the organization of races and their 
subdivisions, it will be well to illustrate with examples 
and story the relation the physical features of the 
world bear to the military and political history of the 
nations. The Alleghanies, the Pyrenees, the Alps, 
the Dardanelles, the English channel, the Danube, 
the Nile, Khyber pass and the Atlantic ocean have 
each borne an important part in determining the rise 
and fall of dynasties and nations. The stories of 
which they form the nuclei are more fascinating than 
romance — they are a key to history. 

Coupled closely with the thought relative to the 
effect of oceans, deserts and lofty highlands upon the 
separation of the human family into races is another ; 
viz., the original homes of populous races were in 
fertile valleys where indigenous food grew in abun- 
dance ; and, even to the present day, the population 
of the world is located in the lowlands rather than the 
highlands. The teacher who cares to reinforce what 
Mr. Frye says upon this subject can read with pleas- 
ure and profit certain portions of Buckle’s History 
of Civilization in England,” especially his General 
Introduction. 

This same chapter from Buckle will acquaint the 
teacher with many interesting facts bearing upon the 
relation of physical geography, including climate, to 
the development of the different races. Though more 
recent writers dispute some of Buckle’s conclusions, 
his leading premises are undoubtedly correct. Mr. 
Frye would have pupils understand that the Caucasian 


74 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies, 


is the race whose history is marked by achievement, 
whose influence makes for civilization. Moreover, he 
would have them see that this same race has been more 
fortunate than any other in its physical environment. 

Instructors who teach Mr. Frye’s chapter upon the 
Races of Men, according to the preceding suggestions, 
will lay a correct foundation for the subsequent study 
of history, whether their pupils pursue that line of 
investigation in school or by private reading. 

In teaching the chapters upon Plants and Animals, it 
should be remembered that from the standpoint of the 
geographer plants and animals are important in propor- 
tion as they minister to the needs of men or influence 
geographical conditions. Plants may assist man by 
furnishing him with food, clothing, fuel or building 
material ; may hinder him by the luxuriance of vegeta- 
tion. They always exercise a direct influence upon 
rainfall and temperature. Animals help man by assist- 
ing as beasts of burden or by furnishing him with food, 
clothing and occasionally fuel. 

The first question in studying the flora of any region 
is : What are the climatic effects of the vegetation } 
The second : Does this vegetation assist or retard 
civilization } Of course it is not sufficient to answer 
these questions with monosyllables. They are intended 
to open up lines of discussion. Having discovered the 
general .effects of the vegetation, the teacher should 
nextTead the pupils to divide the flora into four groups ; 
viz., plants which furnish man food, clothing, fuel or 
building material. Plants that do not readily drop 
into one or the other of these groups should not be 


Geography. 


75 


studied in detail in the geography class. If they are 
in sufficient numbers to be of importance, their mass 
effect has been considered in determining the climatic 
and civilizing effects of the vegetation of the region. 
Why expect pupils to memorize forty or fifty species 
of plants growing in the tropics 1 Let them see that 
the plant universally used for building purposes is the 
bamboo ; and that this plant is better adapted for such 
use than is any other kind in that region. Next let 
them discover what plants furnish the. little clothing 
necessary for the dwellers within the tropics. Follow 
this with the names of eight or ten plants which fur- 
nish food, not only for the natives of that region but 
for people living in other zones. When the names of 
these three kinds of plants have been mastered and 
their characteristics learned, the remaining vegetation 
of the torrid zone can be grouped in one great mass 
and studied merely in its effect upon climate and 
civilization. 

If pupils study Frye’s chapter on Plants from the 
above-described standpoint, they will reach some inter- 
esting and valuable generalizations. Take, for instance, 
the question of fuel. They will see that within the 
tropics fuel is unnecessary except for cooking • pur- 
poses ; that in the temperate zones it must be used for 
both cooking and heating; that the hard woods are 
best adapted for this purpose ; that coal, the flora of 
another age, is here used for the same purpose ; that 
in the polar regions the fats of animals are the only 
fuel used. 

Quite similarly the student of geography need not 


;6 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies, 


attempt to memorize a complete list of the animals 
native to any given zone. It is sufficient if he know 
what animals assist man either as beasts of burden or 
by furnishing him with food or clothing. • It is not im- 
portant that he have impressed upon his mind the fact 
that great herds of bison once roamed over the Ameri- 
can prairies, but he should understand that great herds 
of cattle and flocks of sheep now pasture upon those 
same prairies. When studying the fauna of the tropics 
the average pupil is swamped by the great number of 
animals whose names he is called upon to memorize. 
Mr. Frye would have the teacher realize that the pupil 
is studying the description of the earth as our home; 
consequently, there is no need of requiring geography 
pupils to consider any animal unless it comes in direct 
relation with man. Rather than commit to memory 
the names of all the tropical animals, let the pupil see, 
first, what animals assist man as beasts of burden. In 
this list he will classify the elephant, the horse, the 
camel, the ox and llama. As animals which furnish 
food he will classify the camel, the goat and the sheep, 
and will at the same time reject the carnivorous ani- 
mals. Quickly the child will advance to the generali- 
zation that the flesh of animals is not a good diet for 
people living in the tropics, and that consequently they 
are not inconvenienced by the absence of herbivorous 
animals. He will, however, look ahead and see that 
such animals are found in abundance in the temperate 
zones where pasture lands are plenty and animals fur- 
nish a necessary article of food. Only a limited num- 
ber of tropical animals will be grouped in the third 


Geography, 


77 


class — those which furnish man clothing. This is in 
accordance with nature’s demands. When the pupil has 
thus grouped the animals of the torrid zone, the teacher 
may safely omit the names of the monkeys, baboons, 
crocodiles, boa-constrictor, iguana, jaguar, tapir, arma- 
dillo, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, hyena, giraffe and 
scores of others that may possibly be considered at a 
later date by the class in zoology. 

The interrelation existing between certain vegetable 
and animal life should be shown ; i.e.y pasture lands and 
cud-chewing animals, hog area and corn belt, sheep and 
poorer grazing land. It will be interesting to note how 
man has taken advantage of this principle and utilized 
certain regions which were naturally unproductive. 

Finally, as pupils combine their knowledge of ani- 
mal and vegetable life they should be led to see that 
as we go either way from the equator toward the poles 
that which man needs for food, for clothing, for fuel, 
for building material, changes with the changing cli- 
mate, but that Nature arranges in each case for his 
new needs. If necessary supplies’ are not provided 
outright, the conditions are such that man can produce 
that which is required. 




CHAPTER IX. 


Frye's Complete Geography. Pages iig-iyy. 

HUMANISTIC GEOGRAPHY. 

In this portion of the book the pupil enters upon 

the study of that part of geography which will prove 

% 

of more practical benefit to him than any other. He 
examines the humanistic phase of the subject. He is 
not now primarily concerned with those physical forces 
which have shaped the earth for the abode of man, but 
rather with the manner in which man utilizes the 
resources of the world for his own necessities and 
enjoyment. What portions of the globe has man made 
to bring forth and blossom as the rose } Where does 
he obtain his food, his clothing, his fuel, his building 
material } Where does he delve beneath the surface 
of the earth that he may transform his civilization into 
an age of iron ? Wherefore has he become familiar 
with the trackless deep ? To what purpose has he 
bound state to state, country to country, with double 
bands of steel ? Why has he compelled the lightning 
to carry his messages across continents and beneath 
oceans, to reproduce in distant cities the tones of his 
own voice and to drive sable-winged Night from the 
streets of his metropolis ? These are some of the 
questions which shall engage the pupil’s attention. 

78 I 


Humanistic Geography. 


79 


From their consideration he should come forth with a 
working knowledge of the business geography of the 
world. 

Mr. Frye precedes the study of the products of the 
United States by the examination of the temperature, 
winds and rainfall of the country. The maps with 
which he illustrates this portion of the book are inval- 
uable — they are an epitome of the text.. The pupil 
must either photograph them upon his memory or turn 
to the original again and again. 

In discussing the various products, as cotton, wheat, 
corn, the author uses the following outline : The phys- 
ical conditions under which the crop flourishes ; the 
producing area; the collecting centers; the markets; 
domestic routes of trade ; the world’s producing area 
and collecting centers ; the world’s markets and routes 
of trade. Physical conditions and producing areas are 
not only described in words but pictured by maps. If 
the country produces a greater amount of any commod- 
ity than it needs that fact is noted and the export 
market is named. 

To illustrate the method of teaching this portion of 
the book take the subject Cotton. Though this topic 
is discussed in Chapter V, we again outline it in order 
to illustrate the broader way any given question is 
treated in the ‘‘ Complete Geography.” 

The first question is. What are the physical condi- 
tions under which cotton' flourishes } The answer is 
definitely told at the bottom of the first column on 
page 130. 

Next, What are the cotton areas of the United 


So How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

States ? Turn to the Rainfall and Climate maps, and 
permit the pupils to discover for themselves the cotton 
belt. Reinforce their conclusions by the author’s 
statement as found at the top of the second column on 
page 130. Compare both these findings with the 
Cotton map itself. The final results are thus reached 
by three processes of reasoning, and should be the 
same in each case. 

The pupils are now ready to investigate the third 
topic ; viz., What other countries produce cotton } In 
the very first paragraph of Lesson 129 the author 
directs this investigation. Though they have neither 
Rainfall nor Climate maps of these countries, boys and 
girls will quickly see that the physical conditions of 
the foreign cotton areas are very similar to those of 
our own cotton belt. The characteristics of cotton, 
the methods of planting, cultivating and harvesting the 
crop will prove interesting themes at this point. 

The next topic is. The collecting centers, both do- 
mestic and foreign. Now is the time to turn to the 
geography of the Southern States, as treated on pages 
147— 150, and study everything bearing upon cotton. 
Later we should revert to the map of these states when 
'Studying such general topics as sugar, corn, tobacco, 
forests, iron and coal. Quite similarly the lessons 
upon India and Egypt should be read and the maps 
examined, that clear, distinct and accurate ideas of the 
producing areas and collecting centers in these coun- 
tries may be formed. 

Having determined the centers at which the cotton 
crop is collected, the pupils should next be expected 


Hii^nanistic Geography, 


8i 


to locate the markets ; i,c,^ the places where the cot- 
ton is manufactured into cloth. In this connection 
they should study the geography of New England, 
as described on pages 142- 144, and of England, as 
described on pages 162 and 163 ; or rather that portion 
of this geography which relates to the manufacture of 
cotton fabrics. Pupils may wonder why cotton cloth 
is not manufactured in the immediate vicinity of the 
cotton fields. Teachers should be ready with an inter- 
esting bit of history, giving the pupils an opportunity 
to see that when the United States embarked in the 
manufacture of cotton the labor of the South was per- 
formed by slaves who had not the intellectual training 
necessary for skilled laborers. The raw cotton was 
therefore sent to a region where it could be manufac- 
tured by white labor. Cotton mills were established 
before steam was applied to manufacturing. Water 
power was used to drive the machinery of these mills. 
The best water power in those regions of the North 
which were then settled was in New England. The 
mills were therefore established in that locality, and 
the most intelligent labor was directed to the manufac- 
ture of cotton fabrics. Since the abolition of slavery 
in the South, labor has been looked upon differently, 
and there are many skilled workmen, both black and 
white. Steam is supplanting water as a motive power. 
A result of these changes is the erection of many cot- 
ton mills in the South and the manufacture of the fin- 
ished product in the very region where the cotton is 
grown. By this means the cost of shipping the raw 
cotton to New England and the manufactured cotton 


82 


How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 


back to the South is saved, and the mills of Georgia 
have this important advantage over the mills of Massa- 
chusetts. 

The leading manufacturing districts are a long dis- 
tance from the cotton raising districts. This gives rise 
to the next topic, — the routes of trade. Turn to the . 
chapter upon Highways of Trade, and learn how New 
Orleans, Galveston, Calcutta, Bombay and Alexandria 
are connected with Boston and Liverpool. 

Lastly, determine the markets for the manufactured 
cotton cloth and the routes by which it is shipped to 
the consumers. 

Pupils who study the subject of cotton according to 
the above plan will acquire a knowledge which, while 
broad and comprehensive, is, at the same time, accurate 
and unified. The other general products can be studied 
in a similar way. Even grammar grade pupils will see 
that most of the world’s business transactions are con- 
cerning the production or transportation of food, cloth- 
ing, fuel and building material. 

The plan for studying sectional maps indicated in 
the discussion of cotton should be followed in the inves- 
tigation of other products or industries. The map and 
description of New England will be studied in connec- 
tion with cotton, wool, hides, forests, fisheries and 
building material ; the Middle Atlantic states with 
coal, iron, building material and tobacco ; the Southern 
states with cottan, sugar, rice, tobacco, corn, hogs, 
coal and iron ; the Central states with wheat, corn, 
oats, barley, cattle, hogs, sheep, coal and iron ; the 
Western states with fruits, wheat, grazing and the 


Humanistic Geography, 


33 


precious metals. Each of these products has a general 
topic devoted to it. When investigating that topic, 
study in connection therewith the sectional map or 
maps which throw light upon it. Each map will thus 
be studied as many times as there are important com- 
modities produced in that region. 

This plan of studying the sectional maps has many 
advantages : it does away with the tediousness usually 
attendant upon this portion of the geography ; it fur- 
nishes definite aim for the pupil’s research, and it 
removes vagueness and indistinctness with reference 
to localities referred to in the general discussion of 
the subject in hand. 

When studying the product maps pupils should be 
taught to superimpose one map upon the others, thus 
determining the variety of. resources incident to any 
section. This work will be much more satisfactory 
than when first attempted while studying the ‘‘ Primary 
Geography.” This time pupils will be able to draw 
valuable conclusions concerning the advantages aris- 
ing from a diversity of industries. 

Pupils will be much interested in comparing different 
regions in this respect. To illustrate : Notice that the 
only product map which covers certain sections of 
North Dakota is the Wheat map, while, on the other 
hand. Southern Michigan is covered by the following 
maps : Wheat, Corn, Oats, Forests, Fruits, Beef Cattle, 
Dairy Products, Sheep and Coal. If the wheat crop of 
North Dakota is ruined, farmers have nothing to fall 
back upon ; whereas, if the wheat crop of Southern 
Michigan is injured the citizens have many other 


84 


Hozv to Teach the Fiye Geographies. 


sources of revenue. In Dakota the prosperity of mer- 
chants, bankers, railroad' people, in fact the entire pop- 
ulation, depends, directly or indirectly, upon the wheat 
crop. Though the people of Southern Michigan may 
raise quantities of wheat, their industries are so diver- 
sified that the population at large may still have a pros- 
perous year, even though the wheat crop is ruined 
entirely. Another illustration : Central Florida is cov- 
ered by the Fruit map and a light shading of the For- 
est map. This shows that the country depends chiefly 
upon fruits for a source of revenue. A killing frost 
not only destroys the orange crop, but the trees as 
well and ruins the prosperity of the region for years 
to come. It is interesting to note further how this 
fruit industry depends upon the development of rail- 
roads. Not until the invention of the refrigerator car 
were fruit growers able to have other than a local, and 
consequently limited, market for their product. Fruits 
were too perishable for ordinary transportation. With 
the invention of such cars and the organization of 
through fast freights perishable fruits are shipped from 
the Gulf to the Great Lakes and from the Pacific to 
the Atlantic, thus giving to the fruit growers a market 
in the farthest corner of the country. The increasing 
production keeps pace with the developing market. 

The interrelation of certain industries is nicely illus- 
trated by the Product maps. The Corn and Hog maps 
cover practically the same areas ; in fact, the Beef Cat- 
tle map differs but little from either of the two men- 
tioned. No other Cereal map so nearly corresponds in 
area to the Hog and Cattle maps. This leads to the 


Humanistic Geography. 


85 


inference that corn is more extensively used as a food 
for such animals than is any other grain. A comparison 
of the Dairy Products and Beef Cattle maps will sug- 
gest to the wide-awake teacher two interesting thoughts. 
The cheaper lands of the West make possible the pas- 
turing of large herds of cattle. Such herds are so far 
removed from the centers of population that it is not 
profitable to ship milk or make butter. On the other 
hand, the farming lands of New York, Pennsylvania 
and Ohio are so valuable that they cannot be used for 
pasturing great herds of cattle, and the proximity of 
these sections to the centers of population makes profit- 
able the shipment of dairy products. Thus while the 
Beef Cattle map covers every part described in the 
Dairy Products map, and more too, the darker portion 
of the former map is different from the darker portion 
of the latter. The maps of Coal, Iron, and Iron and 
Steel Manufacture speak volumes to one who knows 
how coal is used in smelting iron ore and how iron is 
transformed into steel. Unless teachers are informed 
on such topics they should not attempt to teach Sec- 
tions 140 and 14 1. The advantages incident to finding 
iron and coal in close proximity are the underlying 
cause for the wonderful development of such cities 
as Chattanooga and Birmingham. Moreover, the sep- 
aration of the Michigan iron mines from the coal fields 
of Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania makes possible 
the most wonderful inland carrying trade in the world. 

If, in connection with the various things raised or 
manufactured in the United States, the pupil is led to 
take a world-wide view, as he did in studying cotton, he 


86 How to Teach the Frye Geographies. 

will be surprised to find how little of the world’s busi- 
ness there remains for him to examine after having 
completed the geography of the United States. This 
country of ours is wonderful in its natural resources ; 
its people are unsurpassed in their activities. With its 
new possessions almost every line of enterprise is repre- 
sented. The mature pupil thus makes the United States 
the center from which he studies the industries of the 
world. How are these world enterprises related to his 
own country ? What are the business relations uniting 
his native land to the world at large ? The final thought 
crowning his three years’ study of geography is thus 
the Interdependence of Nations. Such a conception 
enriches his understanding, broadens his patriotism 
and makes more generous his humanity. 


ADVERTISEMENTS 



<1 


FRYE’S GEOGRAPHIES 


Primary Geography. Small quarto. Cloth. 127 pages. Fully 
illustrated. For introduction, 60 cents. 

Elements of Geography. Small quarto. Cloth. 164 pages. Fully 
illustrated. For introduction, 65 cents. 

Complete Geography. Large quarto. 184 pages. Cloth. Profusely 
illustrated. With an Appendix of 24 pages of Reference Maps. 
For introduction, $1.25. 

Brooks and Brook Basins. First Steps in Geography — Nature 
Studies. Cloth. 119 pages. Illustrated. For introduction, 
58 cents. 

The Child and Nature. Geography Teaching with Sand Modelling. 
A Manual for Teachers. Cloth. 210 pages. Illustrated. For 
introduction, 80 cents. 

Teachers^ Manual. To accompany Frye’s Geographies. i2mo. Flexible cloth. 
190 pages. Illustrated. For introduction, 50 cents. 

Mr. Frye’s text-books on geography are universally 
recognized as representing an advance movement in edu- 
cation, but their crowning merit lies in the fact that they 
not only can secure better results than other books, but can 
make the pupils’ work more interesting and the teacher’s 
work lighter. 

The success of this author’s books shows that they are 
in line with the best methods of teaching and that there is 
a deep and widespread demand for the best ideas, methods, 
and books. At the beginning, it requires perhaps a little 
more skill and pains to teach the pupils to get ideas instead 
of words from their text-books, but that is of course the 
only right way, and in a little time it becomes the easier 
and more pleasant. 


GINN & COMPANY, Publishers, 

Boston. New York. Chicago. Atlanta. Dallas. 


FRYE’S GEOGRAPHIES 


FRYE’S ELEMENTS OF GEOGRAPHY. Small 4to. Cloth. 
164 pages. Fully illustrated. For introduction, 65 cents. 

FRYE’S COMPLETE GEOGRAPHY. With an Appendix con- 
taining 24 pages of Reference Maps. Large 4to. Cloth. 184 
pages. Profusely illustrated. For introduction, ^1.25. 

Frye’s geographies are universally recognized as rep- 
resenting an advance movement in' education, but their 
crowning merit lies in the fact that they not only can 
secure better results than other books, but can make the 
pupils’ work more interesting and the teacher’s work 
lighter. 

The success of Frye’s geographies, which is literally 
unparalleled in the history of text-book publishing, shows 
that there is a deep and widespread demand for the best 
ideas, methods, and books. It goes without saying, that, 
at the beginning, it requires a little more skill and pains 
to teach the pupils to get ideas instead of words from 
their text-books ; but that is of course the only right way, 
and in a little time it becomes the easier and more 
pleasant. 


L. H. Jones, Superintendent of Public Schools^ Cleveland^ Ohio: 

I am delighted with Frye’s Complete Geography; it is thoroughly 
modern and in line with the best methods of teaching. 

F. F. Murdock, Principal of State Norhial School^ North Adams^ Mass. 

I make no reservation wFen I say that Frye’s Complete is the best 
grammar-school geography I have ever used. 

J. R. Miller, Superintendent of Schools., Big Rapids, Mich. 

I have examined a number of the best geographies published and 
after a very careful comparison I have recommended Frye’s geographies 
(Elements and Complete) as the best on the market. 


GINN & COMPANY, Publishers, 

Boston. New York. . Chicago. Atlanta. Dallas. 

H 18^ 84 



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